Coaching Tree

This week's blog post was written by Daren Dieleman.

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

Cubbies Win, Cubbies Win!

This week's post was written by Scott Peterson.

In the 1989 film, Back to the Future II, the main character, Marty McFly, saw the Cubs winning the World Series in the year 2015. As it turns out, the film was only off by one year! Now, what does the Cubs winning a few baseball games have to do with leadership? Well, more than you might think.

The Journey - 108 Years

In the United States, the average attention span of an individual on a phone is six seconds. Think on this for a moment: one, two, three, four, five six - swipe and move on. The Cubs and their fans waited over 100 years for a World Series title; that's a lot of attention and patience.

The following statistics on the ye1908 may provide additional perspective:

• Theodore Roosevelt was president and we have had less than 20 presidents since;

• Five generations (e.g. parents of the Baby Boomers generation were just born);

• The population of Las Vegas, NV was roughly 30 people;

• New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii were not official states;

• The speed limit in most cities was around 10 mph; and

• The average wage was $0.22 per hour.

We think a long time is days or weeks, when really long time might be a few years. This was more than a century and I still have a hard time contemplating the timeframe.

Leader Moments

Winning the World Series was not an event, it was a quest. Here is the story line:

• In 2009, J. Joseph bought the Cubs and hired Theo Epstein to lead the team as President.  Epstein was the President of the Red Sox when they ended their World Series drought. Epstein, along with several other leaders, set a vision of how the Cubs would win it all. This vision included the culture they wanted, from the front office to the players to the managers to the scouts to their relationship with their minor league teams. This vision was their target and their game plan!

• Between 2009 and 2014, the team made many changes from the manager to players. All of the changes were made with the backdrop of their vision. The entire Cubs organization started to believe in the vision; at least a little.

• Then in 2015 the Cubs had success and made the playoffs. However, they did not make it to the World Series and their vision was truly tested. Would the vision pass the test or would it fail?

• "W" in 2016. The Cubs embraced their destiny and win it all. From the very beginning of the season, they believed 2016 would be the year - their year - the Cubs' year. They had a great start to the season, stayed humble, stayed focused, and embraced their vision.

• Game 7 - what a game! The Cubs had the lead and then lost it; they did not have momentum on their side. Then, a rain delay. During this 17 minute period, the leaders seized the moment.  They could have hung their heads, but instead they leaned on their faith in the vision. After the rain delay, they came back out and did the unimaginable. The Cubs won the World Series. The vision was tested during Game 7 and during the rain delay, just like it was tested in 2015. The team embraced the test. It was their mental toughness, leadership, and passion for the vision that made winning the World Series a reality.

The Cubs winning the World Series is an incredible journey and a fun story to discuss. Just remember that you and your team have that same opportunity to create a vision and achieve great things. That vision will be tested and when it is, make the most of it. Lean in to that test, have patience, be persistent, and encourage your team to let their passion shine. When you succeed, it's time to let the champagne flow and celebrate. That is winning and leading the Interstates (and Cubs) way!

Continue leading the Interstates way!
Scott Peterson