Harbaugh Takes a Page Out of Coach Wooden's Book

This week I was listening to a sports talk show and one of the talking heads was commenting on the great job that Jim Harbaugh had done with QB Alex Smith. Apparently Harbaugh had instituted a communication style that I would call the “Awesome But” method. Smith who apparently has lacked confidence over the years has flourished under the tutelage of the former Michigan quarterback. Simply put, the coach has a style where he starts with an ego builder and then introduces the learning statement. A typical Harbaught interaction would be, “Alex you are throwing the ball awesome, but make sure you make that 3 step drop faster so you can see the defense quicker.” This communication strategy has worked wonders with the 2005 number 1 draft pick. This interaction builds on the success with no negative effect while getting the point across loud and clear. Without question, Harbaugh’s handling of Smith who was pretty much written off by former staffs and the media, has resurrected Smith’s career and made him a viable MVP candidate and provided the 49ers a leader who can make the big plays in clutch situations.

Not coincidentally, John Wooden was famous for this same style of interaction with his players and called it pre-correction. Wooden’s theory was that the initial positive statement would more completely acquire the total focus of the player and then the second statement would allow the player to visualize the total movement correctly with no negative implication. During the 1970’s UCLA had a 7 foot player named Ralph Drollinger who would get the rebound but not outlet the ball quick enough for the Wizard of Westwood. By not making the pass quickly enough the defense would have time to react and the Bruin fastbreak would be susceptible for turnovers. So Wooden would holler every time Drollinger got a defensive rebound, “Good Rebound, Pass it to somebody short!” By the start of season Drollinger became a very effective defensive rebounder who was good at initiating the UCLA famous fast-break that led to easy baskets for future NBA stars Marques Johnson or Dave Myers.

As a coach, leader or manager I would encourage you to implement Harbaugh’s “Awesome But” style or Coach Wooden’s pre-correction strategy as part of your communication with your team. Those styles paid huge dividends for two super successful leaders and my guess is, it will work for you. I encourage everyone to study the masters and then not copy but identify specific concepts that fit into your personality and then adapt those concepts so they becomes part of your leadership portfolio.

Do not be surprised this weekend when we hear from Coach Harbaugh, “ Our guys played great and our victory over the Giants was awesome, but we are going to have to really get focused these next 2 weeks if we expect to bring home the Lombardy Trophy.”