Next Level Blog
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Lessons in Winning Gracefully from Coach K November 16 2011
In what ended up being a pretty close game, Duke beat Michigan State at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. In the process, Coach Mike Krzyzewski set a record by winning his 903rd Division I basketball game. With the win, he passed his former coach, boss and mentor Bob Knight who was sitting court side calling the game for ESPN. It was a pretty compelling moment made more so by the way Coach K conducted himself in the minutes after the game.
As you can see in this interview with ESPN’s Andy Katz, the coach showed grace, gratitude and perspective after setting the record.
If you’re fortunate as a leader, there will be times when you can see a big win coming up before it happens. In Coach K’s case, it was a lock that he was going to break the record this season, it was just a question of when. By thinking in advance how he wanted to handle himself if he won at MSG in front of his old coach, he created an opportunity to show leaders how to win gracefully.
Here are three lessons from the coach that stood out for me.
- Show grace - When the buzzer sounded, Coach K hugged his staff, walked down the sideline and hugged his long time friend and rival, Spartans coach Tom Izzo. He then proceeded to shake the hand of every MSU player just like he does at the end of every game. He then walked over to the broadcast table for a long embrace with Bob Knight. Coach K recognized that all the eyes and cameras were on him and conducted himself with grace and dignity.
- Show gratitude – When the time came for the post game interview at center court, the first question was about what he said to Knight during their hug. Coach K said, “I told him I love him and that I wouldn’t be in this position without him.” He then expressed his appreciation for his circumstance and shared the credit by saying, “When you have really good players and a great school, you’re going to win a lot of games.” On a night when it could have been all about him, he didn’t make it all about him.
- Show perspective – One of the last questions for the Coach was after setting this record, winning championships and Olympic gold medals, what are you going to do next? His simple, quiet and immediate response was, “Developing this team. We have some great kids and we want to have a really good season.”
Coach K is clearly a winner and a leader. He’s not perfect. None of us are. That said, he set a good example on Tuesday for leaders who experience a big win.
Think of leaders you’ve seen who won with grace. What have you noticed that stands out?
Scott Eblin is an executive coach, speaker and author of 
As a Dukie, I have to admit that when I saw the Next Level Blog arrive in my inbox today, I was hoping it would be about Coach K. I have met him a few times and I am convinced that he is the real deal – including all the leadership traits you mention above and more. It's nice to have something positive to focus on in college athletics.
Scott, thanks for highlighting this leadership moment. Coach K and I entered Duke at the same time, 1980. His first couple of years produced losing records, no post-season season appearances, and many called for his immediate ouster. The wise Athletic Director, Tom Butters, realized that leaders require time to develop their personnel and systems, and he stuck with this "nobody" from Army. There's another lesson there. Also, I note that Coach K has written several books — not on basketball, but on leadership skills. Doug Horner, Duke '84
Hey Doug and TomReally appreciate you sharing your Coach K comments. The two of you should get together to talk Blue Devil talk.CheersScottScott EblinExecutive Coach888 242 4680 x702web: <a href="http://www.eblingroup.comwww.eblingroup.com<br />blog: <a href="http://www.scotteblin.comwww.scotteblin.com<br />Sent from my iPhone
I must admit I bleed Carolina Blue and love to pull against Duke whenever they take the floor, but have the utmost respect for their coach, who embodies what it means to be a real leader. Go Heels.
What a great point. You can be passionate about your team and still respect your rival. Think that's what they call sportsmanship, right? Thanks for the comment Tim.
Tony Dungy relates a similar moment when he knew his Colts team was about to win the Super Bowl. He realized he would be front and center of the cameras, in front of millions of people watching the big game. He said he wanted to communicate his priorities and demonstrate many of the traits you list above with Coach K. Both of these great coaches took full advantage of the spotlight to show us what's most important.
Like the Carolina Blue from above, I am a Kansas die hard and have the exact same thoughts about Duke and Coach K. You may not like the team but you have to respect the man as a leader of good young men. By the way I feel the same about Carolina since they took our coach but will always think of Roy the same way.
Coach K is a great coach and leader with his team and the students. We happened to be at Duke the day before they were playing the MD Terps a few years ago. Duke had advertised free pizza for the students and a pep rally with Coach K in attendance. Cameron was packed. Coach K addressed the students about pride in their school. He then went on to say that he had heard that the students planned to toss strawberries with powdered sugar onto the court in the pregame warmup's. DJ Strawberry was on the MD team and his father, Darryl a former major league baseball player had been charged with possession of cocaine. Coach K told the students that this is not how Duke students and players conduct themselves. He also said if a single strawberry hit the court, he would remove the Duke team from the court and forfeit the game. Not a single strawberry saw its way onto the court and Duke went on to beat the Terps.
I know this is hard to believe, but I don't really care about Duke basketball!
What I do care about is this example of great leadership. We develop leadership programs based on work with "positive deviants" for many organizations. One of the characteristics of these positive deviants is consistent humility. Positive deviants — and Coach K certainly is a positive deviant — are invariably kind and gracious people. They focus on a larger purpose that is highly inclusive.
Organizations have this resource — their positive deviants — available to them all of the time, but few organizations are interested or know how to leverage their unique capabilities. When an organization builds employee development programs around their positive deviants, almost everyone shows many of Coach K's characteristics. What would it mean to your organization if every person shared Coach K's values and acted like Coach K? You would have a pretty special place.
What is impressive about Coach K is the way that he approaches obstacles. He plays to win and is not afraid to take on tough challenges. Whether or not he wins, his teams always play hard for him.
And that's the sign of a great leader.