Playing the Part of a Great Leader From the Dugout: Leadership Lessons from Coach Jim Leyland

November 17, 2011 By

What Sports Can Teach Us About Employee Communications

Some of the most clear cut examples of the correlation between leadership and success occur in sports.  Results are instant and reaction is constant and intense.

In the 2011 MLB American League Divisional Series, Detroit Tigers Manager Jim Leyland played the part of a great leader by being direct, decisive and driving performance from his players.  Leyland made an incredibly tough decision, choosing to not start star pitcher Justin Verlander, but he did it with clear conviction.  Leyland’s strong actions pushed his team to victory, and those actions are a perfect example of the qualities of a great leader in action.

YouTube Preview Image

Want more? Check out Part Three of this Five Part Series on great leadership and business innovation. To watch the rest of the series, check out Part One.  You can reach Butch Stearns on Twitter @ButchStearns, and you can reach Tyler Pyburn on Twitter @TyPyburn

Filed Under: Management, Sports Tagged With: , , , , ,

TPN Finance, Moneyball and Business

September 30, 2011 By

 

Tune in every Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET for TPN Finance where Stephen Saber, CEO of the Pulse Network, roams every topic a business leader could encounter from business ethics to social media’s ROI.

 

Moneyball and Business

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

 

The 2002 Oakland Athletics have been called the team that changed baseball with their use of analytics to help a small market team compete in a “unfair” league.  People talk about Moneyball all the time in business but now with the release of the movie the parallels within business are appearing more and more.  Tom Davenport on the Harvard Business Review Blog Network wrote an enchanting article on the Six Things Your Company has in Common with the Oakland A’s that I went into depth with Tyler Pyburn about on TPN Finance.

Past performance does not predict future success Yahoo! is a perfect example.  The analytics of a person are all based on their past experiences; therefore key is to recognize what types of characteristics your model is based around before you drive into the numbers.

YouTube Preview Image

 

For the full TPN Finance on Moneyball in Business episode click here.

 

Please feel free to comment on the post or reach out to me on e-mail: ssaber@thepulsenetwork.com

Filed Under: Business Instruction, business strategy, Management, Sports, TPN Finance Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Greatest Athletes of All-Time: Football

August 17, 2011 By

 

This is Part Five of a Five Part Series in which Butch Stearns Tackles the Task of Determining the Greatest Athletes of All-Time in the Four Major Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Hockey and Football.  Butch Stearns is the C.O.O. of The Pulse Network, and the Host of Sports Buzz on The Pulse Network.

The debate of the best NFL players of all-time is perhaps the most difficult to frame.  How do you judge the statistical achievements of a linebacker or cornerback against those of a quarterback or wide receiver?

Brown Put Up Gaudy Numbers in His 9-Year Career

The being said, the statistics of Jim Brown simply cannot be ignored.  Despite playing in the league for just 118 games, Jim Brown put up amazing numbers.  Over his nine year career, he averaged 104.3 yards per game and 5.2 yards per carry.  To use a modern player as a frame of reference for Brown’s greatness, LaDainian Tomlinson has averaged 85.9 yards per game and 4.3 yards per carry in his 10 year career.

Jim Brown dominated unlike any other.  And forget football.  Brown is widely considered one of the greatest all-around athletes the U.S. has ever produced.

YouTube Preview Image

Jim Brown.  Michael Jordan.  Gordie Howe.  Babe Ruth.  The greatest players in each of their respective sports.  Miss any of this series?  Check it all out here.

 

Agree with me?  Think I’m dead wrong? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on twitter @ButchStearns

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Greatest Athletes of All-Time: Hockey

August 15, 2011 By

 

This is Part Four of a Five Part Series in which Butch Stearns Tackles the Task of Determining the Greatest Athletes of All-Time in the Four Major Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Hockey and Football.  Butch Stearns is the C.O.O. of The Pulse Network, and the Host of Sports Buzz on The Pulse Network.

Wayne Gretzky May Be The Great One, But He's Not the Greatest One

Wayne Gretzky is the third-best player in the history of the NHL.  And no, that’s not a typo.

The Great One holds almost all of the records in the book.  There’s no debating the numbers.  Nor is there debating the fact that he accomplished some amazing feats in his time in the league.

Gretzky comes in at third on my list behind two other hockey legends that can’t be trumped, even by all the records in the book.

YouTube Preview Image

 

 

 

How can there be any debate that the guy who made Gretzky want to wear Double-Nines is the greatest player of all-time?

Bobby Orr Flies to #2 On the List

As for Orr, the reasons he climbs above Gretzky on this list are simple.  Bobby Orr came first, and he made a longer lasting impression.

 

Agree with me?  Think I’m dead wrong? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on twitter @ButchStearns

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Greatest Athletes of All-Time: MLB

August 12, 2011 By

 

This is Part Three of a Five Part Series in which Butch Stearns Tackles the Task of Determining the Greatest Athletes of All-Time in the Four Major Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Hockey and Football.  Butch Stearns is the C.O.O. of The Pulse Network, and the Host of Sports Buzz on The Pulse Network.

Let me paint a picture for you.  Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are battling for the top spot on my list of all-time baseball greats.

Seem hard to believe?  It wouldn’t be such hardball heresy if not for the steroid era.  Barry Bonds holds the records for most home runs in a career, most home runs in a single season, home runs against the most different pitchers, consecutive seasons with 30 + homers, and his seven MVP awards are four more than the nearest competitors.  Oh yeah, and twelve other documented MLB records.

The Lasting Memories of Clemens and Bonds are in Court, Not on the Diamond

Meanwhile, The Rocket was the first player to whiff 20 guys in one game, and the only pitcher to accomplish the amazing feat twice*. He piled up an extraordinary seven Cy Youngs on his way to 354 wins and 4672 strikeouts. He won the 1986 AL MVP award, and he won two World Championships.

But the steroid era did happen, and it toppled these two immortals from their post atop baseball’s mountain.  It also probably cost them their ticket to Cooperstown.

 

 

Steroids cast a shadow on these greats, and many more in the modern era.  But luckily for the history of the game, it left the greats of old untouched.  With that in mind, I present to you my top three baseball players of all time.

YouTube Preview Image

It may not be as clear cut as MJ, but in my opinion there’s no doubt that The Babe tops the list.

 

Agree with me?  Think I’m dead wrong? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on twitter @ButchStearns

 

Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Greatest Athletes of All-Time: Pro Basketball

August 11, 2011 By

 

This is Part Two of a Five Part Series in which Butch Stearns Tackles the Task of Determining the Greatest Athletes of All-Time in the Four Major Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Hockey and Football.  Butch Stearns is the C.O.O. of The Pulse Network, and the Host of Sports Buzz on The Pulse Network.

 


Kobe Bryant.  LeBron James.  Kareem Abdul Jabbar.  Wilt Chamberlain.  What do these four super-athletes have in common?

None of them are in my top three NBA players of all time.  Beyond that, they can’t even crack my top four.

Magic and Larry Were Great, But Not The Best Ever

In the first part of this series, we take a look at the greatest NBA players in the history of the game.  And right off the bat, the field can’t even be narrowed down to three.  Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are such perfect historical rivals that the two can’t be separated, even for argument’s sake.

With those two legends coming in at a tie for third, another Celtics’ great makes the list, but can’t topple His Airness for the top spot.

 

 

 

 

YouTube Preview Image

 
In Pro Basketball, many have tried, but none have matched MJ’s greatness.  When he played the game, he made the Chicago Bulls into a dynasty.  He led his team to an unprecedented 72 win season, only to follow it up the next year with 69 wins.  He dropped a double-nickel on the Knicks at the Garden after he retired.  He shot it over Ehlo.  He’s got the most recognizable shoe on earth named after him, and the biggest name in baseball wearing his brand.  He’s still on the cover of video games, and Jay-Z routinely name drops him.

Jordan Soars Above The Rest

There’s no debate that MJ is the greatest NBA player of All-Time.

Agree with me?  Think I’m dead wrong? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on twitter @ButchStearns

 

 

Filed Under: Sports

The Greatest Athletes of All-Time: The Criteria

August 9, 2011 By

 

This is Part One of a Five Part Series in which Butch Stearns Tackles the Task of Determining the Greatest Athletes of All-Time in the Four Major Sports: Basketball, Baseball, Hockey and Football.  Butch Stearns is the C.O.O. of The Pulse Network, and the Host of Sports Buzz on The Pulse Network.

What defines greatness in athletics?

Some will tell you that statistics are the measure of success in sports.  That an athlete who puts up gaudy numbers and stands above his peers on paper is great.  Others live and die by rings.  For these, the only path to athletic immortality is through championships.  Some will tell you that the only way to know greatness in sports is to witness it first hand.

The reality is that the best athletes of all-time possess a rare mix of characteristics that separate them from the pack.  I define greatness in three simple ways.

The Steps to Greatness

 

Dominance, Value and Championships.  Excelling in those three areas elevate the good athletes to the best.  And the rare freaks who achieve all three of these criteria earn the right to be considered the greatest of all-time.

In Part Two of this series, we’ll take a look at the greatest basketball players of all-time. Contrary to popular opinion, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James can’t even crack my top three, so find out who can.

YouTube Preview Image

 

Agree with me?  Think I’m dead wrong? Let me know by commenting on this post, or by reaching out to me on twitter @ButchStearns
Filed Under: Sports Tagged With: , , , , , ,