PDA

View Full Version : Could Coach K be a CEO?



MarkD83
12-05-2014, 09:30 PM
Here is a really good article about Coach K on Linked In.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/article/20141205121948-203184238-does-coach-k-have-what-it-takes-to-be-a-ceo?trk=pulse-det-nav_art

Devil in the Blue Dress
12-05-2014, 09:42 PM
Considering how the basketball program is operated, Coach K is functioning like a CEO.

sagegrouse
12-05-2014, 10:26 PM
Citrin makes a lot of sense. IMHO (where the H is silent) K would be an outstanding CEO for companies where leading and motivating an executive and management team is supremely important. For pure tech companies -- Apple, etc. -- maybe not so much, but then we already have a Duke guy in charge.

ice-9
12-06-2014, 02:33 AM
Fascinating question. I think Coach K can be a great CEO because he's so good in adapting to the situation, reading people, creating a culture of excellence, general organization and showing good judgement. He's also a master motivator.

However, there's one key thing he will have to change. The key metric in basketball is playing well for 40 minutes, which is fundamentally different from business.

Coach K as business CEO will have to evolve to take account that fact. For example, charisma counts a lot when you need an uplift in energy, intensity and focus for the next forty minutes. Not so much in business where cycles are measured in quarters if not years.

Edouble
12-06-2014, 03:06 AM
Fun article, but one minor quibble... Coach K has not won "4 Olympic Gold Medals as head coach of USA Men's National Team," rather he has won two Olympic gold medals (2008 and 2012) and two gold medals at the FIBA World Championships (2010 and 2014). I suppose you could tack on an Olympic gold medal as an assistant of the 1992 team as well.

CDu
12-06-2014, 08:28 AM
Fun article, but one minor quibble... Coach K has not won "4 Olympic Gold Medals as head coach of USA Men's National Team," rather he has won two Olympic gold medals (2008 and 2012) and two gold medals at the FIBA World Championships (2010 and 2014). I suppose you could tack on an Olympic gold medal as an assistant of the 1992 team as well.

He was also a special assistant to Coach Knight on the 1984 Olympic team. So I think it may be fair to say he has won four Olympic gold medals - just not all as a head coach.

sagegrouse
12-06-2014, 08:42 AM
He was also a special assistant to Coach Knight on the 1984 Olympic team. So I think it may be fair to say he has won four Olympic gold medals - just not all as a head coach.

Good job, CDu, remembering 1984. As a matter of further elucidation, while FIBA gives medals to the coaches, the Olympics do not. So, statements about Olympic medals are best expressed, "K's teams have won four Olympic gold medals." Or, "K has coached four goal-medal teams in the Olympics." But K has definitely won three FIBA medals at the world championships (now World Cup) -- two gold and one bronze.

uh_no
12-06-2014, 09:21 AM
K is a phenomenal leader and motivator, and a really bright guy...and while those skills are certainly essential for being a CEO, I'm not sure he necessarily has the financial acumen or the domain knowledge to be a serious candidate for most positions.

He absolutely knows what it takes for a bball program to be successful, but that stems from an intimate knowledge of how a college basketball program operates in the grand scheme of american sports...so I would absolutely consider him a CEO of duke basketball.....but outside of basketball? it's just not his expertise....just like ginny rometty probably wouldn't make a great CEO of Merck, coach K probably wouldn't make a great CEO of IBM.

Jarhead
12-06-2014, 10:18 AM
K is a phenomenal leader and motivator, and a really bright guy...and while those skills are certainly essential for being a CEO, I'm not sure he necessarily has the financial acumen or the domain knowledge to be a serious candidate for most positions.

He absolutely knows what it takes for a bball program to be successful, but that stems from an intimate knowledge of how a college basketball program operates in the grand scheme of american sports...so I would absolutely consider him a CEO of duke basketball.....but outside of basketball? it's just not his expertise....just like ginny rometty probably wouldn't make a great CEO of Merck, coach K probably wouldn't make a great CEO of IBM.

Oh, contrair, uh_no. Leadership is the top quality required of a CEO. Coach K owns the patent on that. He would simply appoint aides to provide the other qualities.4560

-jk
12-06-2014, 10:25 AM
Oh, contrair, uh_no. Leadership is the top quality required of a CEO. Coach K owns the patent on that. He would simply appoint aides to provide the other qualities.4560

Agreed. K has a four degree in leadership under fire. And a lot of hands on experience, too.

-jk

fuse
12-06-2014, 10:43 AM
Longer answer includes points like true leaders ( and Coach K may be as pure a leader as anyone has seen) surround themselves with people that make them better, and are self aware enough to also choose people that have strengths where they are weak.

The only real limitation I see is Coach K's strength in leadership comes from his passion.
If Coach K could be as passionate about IBM, Target, Walt Disney World,...(you get the idea) as he is with basketball, he could run the company.

From Fuqua/COLE, it appears a way Coach K is demonstrating this is in teaching off the court.

I went to one of the early Coach K leadership academy conferences, and they brought in some pretty high powered CEOs to speak. To a person I believe most of them talked about what they had learned directly or indirectly from K and how it applied to their business. This included Homeland Security, Financials, Big Pharma, and technology.

brevity
12-06-2014, 11:42 AM
Leadership is the top quality required of a CEO.

I'm no expert, but I think the business world reflects this. CEOs move from a company in one field to another in an entirely different field. It's all widgets.

Coach K may run into another problem, though. He's not corrupt enough. Coach K would make more on the business lecture circuit, but John Calipari is closer to a real CEO.

moonpie23
12-06-2014, 12:45 PM
He was also a special assistant to Coach Knight on the 1984 Olympic team. So I think it may be fair to say he has won four Olympic gold medals - just not all as a head coach.

smaller quibble - coach k has not won ANY olympic medals.......the teams that he's coached have....

MarkD83
12-06-2014, 01:26 PM
I'm no expert, but I think the business world reflects this. CEOs move from a company in one field to another in an entirely different field. It's all widgets.

Coach K may run into another problem, though. He's not corrupt enough. Coach K would make more on the business lecture circuit, but John Calipari is closer to a real CEO.

You missed an adjective. Bad CEOs move from company to company because they think everything is a widget