Lead or Get Off the Pot! by Pat Croce & Bill Lyon

Author:Pat Croce & Bill Lyon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

PAT CROCE

POINTER:

What’s worse than making a mistake is not admitting it and correcting it.

It is a universal law that we all make mistakes. It is a normal process in all of our lives. What we do to make amends is what separates leaders from losers.

People will forgive a mistake due to poor judgment of the mind, undisciplined exuberance, or even a mental fart. But they will never forgive or forget the mistake one makes by covering up the first mistake. This grievous act reflects poor judgment of the heart and soul, and can leave you with a label that you won’t soon be able to peel off.

On the day after my first season as president of the Sixers ended, I stood in front of a room filled with Philadelphia’s top sports reporters and told them that I had made a mistake in my hiring of both coach and general manager. I was confessing my blunder in public. And I was apologizing. I said, “I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”

I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that was quite as de-meaning or humiliating as standing in front of the media and taking all their shots. But I believe that, because I adhered to the 3-R approach, from that day forward I had earned and maintained the respect and trust of the press and the public.

As I wrote in my book 110%, under Strategy #66: Own Up to the Boo-Boo, “It’s only those who never do anything who never make mistakes.”

3. Reliability

Are you available in the moments that matter? Are you accessible in times of turmoil? Do you honor your promises and commitments?

One of the very first things I did when I took over as president of the 76ers was to get myself a godfather. I recruited the consultative services of the undisputed, uncontested, unquenchable Godfather of Basketball in Philadelphia.

William Randolph Hill. Known to all as Sonny.

Sonny was, and is, da man. He organized his first summer basketball league in 1960. He was still playing professionally then, a flashy five-foot-nine guard in the Eastern League who never met a shot he didn’t like. When developing that first league, Sonny had to recruit some of his guys (among them Wilt Chamberlain) in order to give his fledgling organization instant cachet and credibility.

Today, the Charles Baker Memorial League is an institution. Pros come from all over the country to play there in the summer. It’s a proving ground for them, much like the famous Philly “gym wars” are for boxers who come to the City of Brotherly Love to find out how tough they really are.

In addition to the Baker League, there is the Sonny Hill Community Involvement League, a youth-oriented league that annually consists of four dozen teams and has sent more than twenty-five thousand youngsters through its program since 1968. But—and this is the key part—it isn’t just about basketball. The program offers tutoring opportunities and career counseling. The kids are tracked and monitored, starting as early as fifth grade and going through high school.

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