Lessons from the Firing of Coach Chris Beard
Photo by Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports via REUTERS and the Texas Tribune
Today's second topic is the National Medal of Honor Museum
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On January 5, 2023, The University of Texas at Austin fired head basketball coach Chris Beard. Many articles have been written about this, including one by the Texas Tribune. Coaching at Texas was Beard's dream job. He is a UT alumnus. His first coaching job was as a graduate assistant under Tom Penders. In the blink of an eye, he has lost it all.
This article focuses on three leadership lessons we can all take away from what happened.
Lesson One – Respond, Don't React
Beard and his fiancée, Randi Trew, were in a heated argument. We will never know who said what or how the situation escalated. It is clear that both parties stopped thinking and let their emotions control their actions. The results have been disastrous for each.
The more emotional a situation becomes, the more important it is to deescalate and let your cognitive processes take control. Stepping back from emotions is not easy, but it is essential for successful and effective leaders.
Lesson Two – Reputations are Fragile Things
When you drop a porcelain vase, it shatters into many pieces. Even if you can glue the pieces back together, the vase will never be as strong as it was. It may look fine, but it may not water or be able to bear the weight of a flower arrangement.
Reputations are the same. Once compromised, they can never be fully repaired. It will take Beard years to rehabilitate his image, which will always be tarnished. In our legal system, everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. The court of public opinion does not operate the same way. For some, he will always be viewed as a domestic abuser. Those people will see that as a reason for a lifetime ban. Others will allow him to recover, but the specter of his losing control will never entirely go away.
Coach Sarkisian is a cautionary tale. While at USC, several incidents eventually led to his termination in 2015. It was not until six years later that he received the head coaching opportunity at Texas. When he was hired at Texas, every article I read covered his dismissal from USC. Those mistakes will always follow him. Beard is one year older than Sarkisian, so his window to rehabilitate his image and rebuild his career is shorter.
Lesson Three – No matter the provocation, abuse, physical or verbal, is never acceptable.
I am a proud graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. I went to Austin in 1976 because it was rated as one of the ten best business schools in the country, and it still is. I am not a sports fanatic. I don't watch every game or follow recruiting efforts. I have only attended one basketball, one baseball, and two football games in the past ten years. I was pleased to see the program's improvement under Coach Beard, and I hope Coach Rodney Terry has great success this season.
I hope these lessons are being discussed with the men's basketball team in particular and across the entire campus. This incident is an opportunity to teach everyone the importance of protecting their reputation.
The National Medal of Honor Museum
I am a supporter of the National Medal of Honor Museum. The museum is currently under construction and expected to open to the public in early 2025. The Museum team is also leading efforts to construct a monument to all Medal of Honor recipients near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. President Lincoln created the medal to recognize extreme acts of valor during civil war troops.
I attended a recent function that was attended by several high-profile luminaries, including Gordon England (former Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Navy), Congresswoman Kay Granger, and Doug Parker (past CEO of American Airlines). The guest of honor was Medal of Honor recipient Sal Giunta. During his talk, Mr. Giunta never spoke about what he did in Afghanistan. He only spoke about his devotion to service and to his team.
One sentence from the talk resonated with me. "Average people are capable of incredible things." I believe this is true. This idea is a central premise of The Leader With A Thousand Faces. One part of my book focuses on Leadership Observed. This is where we learn and develop the skills necessary to be leaders. Observation prepares us for Leadership In Action. This is where we put what we have learned to use. Our skills are applied in different ways depending on the circumstances.
We are all capable of extraordinary things. All we need to do is continuously learn and prepare ourselves for opportunities. In the moment, we must shed our fears and doubts and step up to the challenge.
What I'm Up To
I was privileged to help facilitate The Art of M&A® for Integration Leaders: Mastering the Fundamentals. This is one of many excellent offerings offered by the M&A Leadership Council. You can see the 2023 schedule here.
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Quotes
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The Leader With A Thousand Faces is available on Amazon.
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