The Last Word

By Randy Burgess

I’m a Hockey fan (real fans don’t call it ice hockey).  Not specifically because of the rough play, the speed of the game or the artistry displayed by many of its players, although, I appreciate all of those.   Mostly, it’s because, as a child, I learned the game by watching it on TV with my father and brothers as a regular family activity.  Our excitement and enjoyment was a shared family experience, and those experiences are always close to the heart.  The cancellation of the NHL season due to a labor dispute has stirred those memories for me because it’s hard to believe such a thing could possibly happen to the game, but I think there may be something to learn from the situation for the leaders and managers of all companies.

I know that for you and most others who read this, hockey is a sport you probably don’t care about—it ranks well below arena football and tractor pull events in American TV popularity—but the dispute between NHL players, whose average income was $1.8 million, and team owners is an interesting case study in leadership. 

The owners, represented by NHL President Gary Bettman, were trying to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the players that included a link to revenues.  Under their various proposals, players would have received no more than 55% of total team revenues and the average player salary would have dropped by about $500 K.  The players, represented by their association’s president, Bob Goodenow, rejected proposals that tied salaries to revenues on a matter of principle, but they did offer a one-time roll-back of 24% of their salaries, presumably on the assumption that salaries would quickly regain that lost ground without an enforced link to team revenues.  

One can’t help but wonder how a new system that would deliver an average player salary of $1.3 million could possibly be rejected by the players, and, for that matter, how the owners could possibly reject an opportunity to reduce salaries by 24%, salvage the season and minimize fan discontent.  The answer, quite simply, is leadership.  The leaders of both sides have done an incredible job maintaining the allegiance of their followers.  Below are some compelling definitions of leadership.  Read them.  Reflect upon them.  They might just increase the effectiveness of your own leadership skills.  I think you’ll quickly see which ones apply to Mr. Bettman and Mr. Goodenow, and which might lead to an agreement that would help to create lasting family memories for a new generation of fans. 

Robert K. Greenleaf
The only test of leadership is that somebody follows.

Harold J. Seymour
When the leadership is right and the time is right, the people can always be counted upon to follow—to the end and at all costs.

Talleyrand
I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep.

Peter F. Drucker
Leadership is lifting a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations.

Mary D. Poole
Leadership should be more participative than directive, more enabling than performing.

Chinese proverb
He who cannot agree with his enemies is controlled by them.

<< Previous Article