JOSEP LAGO
Three big sporting events offer sports and non-sports fans alike some useful lessons for the workplace. The European soccer championship, the NBA finals and the Indianapolis 500 auto race tell us a few things about developing staff, working in teams and staying focused:
Promote from within
The Economist's Schumpeter columnist says Barca, the Barcelona soccer team that defeated Manchester United in the European Champions League final, puts more emphasis than any other major team on grooming and developing its own players. The columnist notes that while other soccer teams often resemble the United Nations (Arsenal's starting 11, for example, includes only two native-born Britons), Barca is still dominated by local players who come up through its training programs in Catalonia.
Get close to supporters
Barca has a strong two-way relationship with its fans: It is owned by 150,000 of them, rather than a tycoon or a few shareholders. The team's management is answerable to an assembly of 2,500 randomly chosen members from that broad ownership group and an additional 600 of the most senior members. Want to get close to your customers? Let them become owners.
Tame the superstars
The Miami Heat, of course, didn't develop its own superstars. The basketball team imported them last summer, snapping up free agents LeBron James (ex Cleveland Cavaliers) and Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors) to join forces with Heat superstar Dwyane Wade. But consultant John Maxwell notes on his blog that the team almost succumbed to the selfishness of the superstar trio early this season. Each had been the undisputed leader, the primary scorer, of his team before joining together. Just as too many cooks can spoil the broth, bringing together a large number of leaders can backfire.
But that didn't happen with the Heat, which went all the way to the championship finals. Mr. Maxwell notes that the three players have dedicated themselves to unselfishly serving and supporting one another. Mr. Bosh has adjusted to being a rebounder and secondary scoring option, and Mr. Wade now generally defers to Mr. James on offence during crunch times - although when Mr. Wade is hot, the reverse can happen. "As the Heat have discovered during the course of their first season together, the bottom line in leadership isn't how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance the team," Mr. Maxwell writes.
Remove distractions
Consultant Kevin Eikenberry lives in Indianapolis, so he was out at the track near the start/finish line as the Indy 500 celebrated its 100th anniversary recently, thinking about how to get greater speed in our work life. He noticed how empty are the cockpits of race cars: Drivers have only what they really need to achieve their goal. "Distractions get in the way of speed! What are the distractions in your working life? What distracts your team from moving forward faster? Identify your distractions and ruthlessly remove them, or relegate them to a specific time and place," he writes on his blog.
Take time to slow down
This year's winning speed at the Indy 500 was actually about 15 kilometres per hour less than the track record, set in 1996, because the track management decided a few years ago that speeds were too fast for safety. Similarly, Mr. Eikenberry argues that leaders must make sure the speed of their company is healthy - that they aren't unduly sacrificing quality in favour of speed. "While I urge you to create more speed in your culture," he stresses, "you must also be ready to regulate it."
Harvey Schachter