What John Calipari has Taught Me about Business
I’m not a big basketball fan, despite being married to one. However, you cannot live in the Bluegrass state and not discuss basketball. See basketball. Hear about basketball. Breathe basketball. A lot. And this year? Well, this year Kentucky basketball is bigger than ever, the Big Blue Nation has swelled its ranks to overflowing. There are two reasons for that: John Calipari… and Cal’s Cats.
Not being a basketball fan, I’ve still been interested…. No, I’ve been IMMERSED in what I see happening here. It transcends basketball. And it occured to me that maybe there are some lessons for me about business, marketing and life that I needed to pay attention to. Maybe Coach Cal had some things to coach -me- about. Indirectly.
Turns out he does. I was thinking about it and wanted to sort them out…
1. Pay attention to, and respect everyone around you. You have no idea where the good ideas and breakthroughs will come from.
Calipari had a coach from a smaller school come visit him and he paid attention to him and talked to him and …turns out he learned from him. Cal’s famous Dribble Drive Offense was born out of a conversation with this then-unknown coach.
“Vance’s offense blew me away. It gave every player the freedom to take his man to the hoop on every play. I saw it as something that would unleash players and could potentially be a huge recruiting tool because of its up-tempo, frenetic pace. Scoring opportunities would be plentiful, and it was like nothing I’ve ever seen put into action.”
I’ve learned more from unexpected sources in the past year than I would ever have imagined. It is phenomenal. Following people and listening to people who are just starting out… to established in their fields, they all have something to say and many times, it is worth it to listen. From that I’ve been able to put together my own system of best practices and I’m always looking for ways to improve it. But keeping my ears open and not dismissing others is huge.
2. Don’t be afraid to change.
Because Calipari was open-minded enough to listen and try new things, he grew as a coach. He was humble. He didn’t think he knew it all. ..and.. he was willing to put the time and effort in to become better
This one is hard for most of us I think, and it is even harder to admit. The fact is, change is scary, and why change when things are going okay as they are? But the truth is, the world is not static, it is changing all around us and if you’re not moving forward and growing? You’re really falling behind. Nowhere is this more true than in the world of the Internet. For me it meant learnnig about the world of social media and becoming good at CSS and SEO. Learning how to use content management systems and make mobile friendly designs. For you it might mean changing how you look at your marketing. Looking at a new business process. It’s different for all of us but for all of us it is fundamental.
3. Don’t just jump into something without throughly investigating it.
After Cal’s discovery of a new and better process, he tested it, made incremental changes and measured the results. He had people he reviewed things with, checked in with and discussed his findings with.
Those good ideas I mentioned? They need to be tested. Usually in pieces, usually over time. I can take small steps and make incremental changes to how I do things and that’s okay. Measuring is important. Whether I am using Google Analytics or Facebook’s Insights, I need to take stock and learn from the data.
4. Use the best talent you can get.
Cal doesn’t go out and shoot baskets. He has a team that does that and for that team, he went out looking for the best and brightest and most talented people he could get. I need to do the same, from my vendors to my suppliers, from my subcontractors to my mentors to my software. If I surround myself with the best, I become better. Making sure the right person is doing the right job is important.
5. Have fun.
This is probably the biggest one. Anyone who watches Cal’s show sees that at the end of all his lists of objectives…he always tells the kids to have fun. I think because that remains the core of his program, he is a winner. I need to keep that as my core too, if I’m not having fun, at the end of the day, I’ve lost.
These are just a few things I’ve learned from Coach Cal. There are many many more. But I’m thankful for him as a person and a coach. And I can genuinely say now with as much gusto as the most die-hard fan….Go Big Blue!
