Chicago Bulls: A Study In Leadership

I've read columnists who believe that leadership in basketball, specifically leadership from a head coach, is not very important. At the time I found it hard to believe that. Any team of people, sporting or otherwise, needs at a minimum to have a leader who is smart enough to stay out of the way of the talent. More than that, it almost always needs a leader who exerts a positive influence on the players, using any variety of personal styles - extroverted or introverted, creative or traditional.

I think the best leadership comes from more than just the coach. In the corporate world it's called delegation, and less exactly it's simply the act of people supporting the official leader by providing influence in their own way, through actions or words or both. Good leadership can elevate substandard talent, and poor leadership can weigh it down.

This year's Chicago Bulls seem to be a prime example of the latter.

This isn't a rant about Tom Thibodeau, although reports consistently described his my-way-or-the-highway, one-size-fits-all, grind-it-out mentality which had the cumulative effect in each of five years of a sprinter entering a marathon - impressive performance for much of the race with nothing left to give at the end when it mattered most.

There is Derrick Rose, the star whose talent has been pocked by injuries (which anyone can have), then a deliberately slow rehab and an on-court feud with his teammate and an almost pouty lack of hustle in a playoff game (which leaders cannot do). Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler canceled his cable subscription so that he could focus entirely on his game last summer, working tirelessly and becoming the NBA's Most Improved Player this year.

Thus a team with fantastic talent (including the Most Improved Player and a member of the All-Rookie team), and height, and a tactically brilliant defensive coach fails to top a playoff team whose 2nd best player is gone and whose 3rd best player is ailing.

Coaches need to be adaptable and players need to be tough. I've been on teams where the calming presence of one member was enough to remind me to keep my cool when times got tough. In the absence of that emotional anchor, things can break down easily. The whole personality of a team is shaped by the strength or weakness of character by the leaders. People do what people see. In this case, people underachieved, and lost.

There is much to be learned about leadership through this year's Bulls.