I am a big
Iowa Hawkeyes fan and have been since I was young - I hope I haven’t lost any
readers after that opening statement. If you’ve watched a Hawkeyes football
game on TV, you’ve probably heard references to legendary Iowa football coach Hayden
Fry. Hayden Fry came to Iowa in the late 1970’s, shortly after Iowa had
struggled through seventeen straight losing seasons. With Fry’s help, Iowa made
some significant changes to their football team. Iowa’s logo, uniforms, visitor
locker room, and style of play were transformed. Ultimately, Fry re-energized the
Hawkeyes culture and the entire Iowa football program.
Fry’s
teams at Iowa went on to be successful and his Iowa career lasted twenty seasons.
A tenure which is almost unheard of today in coaching at the collegiate level. The
cornerstone of Fry’s revival of the Iowa football program in the 1980’s wasn’t
the uniforms or the logo, but rather the coaches he surrounded himself with. Hayden
Fry hired some of the best coaches in the business, both young and old. In his
autobiography, he said he wanted his coaches to go on to do greater things in their
careers. He didn’t want to hire a coach that didn’t strive for something better,
even if that meant pursuing careers at other schools. Fry encouraged others to
be their best and took pride in mentoring others and helping them reach new
heights in their careers. Due to Fry’s philosophy, Fry likely did a lot of hiring,
coaching, and mentoring of new and young coaches.
As
leaders, we should challenge ourselves to lead and develop our own people who
may become future leaders themselves. We should also challenge our people to be
and do their very best. Whether at work, home, in the community, as part of an organization,
or in places of worship. As we move forward, we must ask ourselves: are we walking
along side our people, coaching, mentoring, and providing them with opportunities?
Or are we holding them back because they’re too valuable? Great leaders, like
Hayden Fry, take pride in seeing someone they’ve coached and mentored go on to
do great things. Consider your own development; can you think of someone who
believed in you, coached and mentored you, and ultimately helped propel you to
where you are today? I know I can, and if you’re like me, you view that person
in very high regard. Someone who cared enough about you as an individual and about
your personal development to ensure you succeeded, even if that meant more work
for him/her in the end. Those types of leaders are rare and we should all
strive to lead in that way.
Eight of legendary
coach, Hayden Fry’s former assistant coaches went on to become major college
football head coaches. His leadership is truly inspiring! If you look at a
photo of his coaching staff from the 1980’s there are several other coaches around
him who went on to do great things. We may not all have the success that Hayden
Fry received. However, if we take the time to invest in our people and lead by
helping others find success, we will create strong companies, families, and
communities.
Hayden Fry
surrounded himself with a strong network of good people who became great
leaders. What will your “leadership tree” look like in ten, twenty, or even
thirty years? Who will you have helped mentor and develop, either personally or
professionally, to do great things?
Continue
leading the Interstates way!
Daren
Dieleman
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