Category Archives: Blog

Cornell University’s Jen Baker Discusses Leadership Development on SCI TV

With leadership such an important element of team success, Sports Conflict Institute’s Joshua Gordon and Dr. Ken Pendleton recently spoke with Jen Baker, the Director of the Big Red Leadership Institute at Cornell University, about her approach to leadership development and how it can help student athletes perform their best both on and off the field. As a student athlete, naval officer, business owner, coach, and teacher, Baker has developed her leadership skills across many settings and believes in a diverse set of leadership styles. “There is a lot of different thought out there on how to lead and all of it is right quite frankly. The right way to lead is the way that feels the most authentic to any given individual.”

Leadership Style

So how to know your leadership style? Baker stresses the importance of identifying your personal values: “Until you understand what grounds you it’s very difficult to take on the presence of a leader. (We try to) grow that awareness, building that intuition as a leader. Where is that decision coming from? Is it coming from me and how I see the world or from my team and what’s best for them?”

Critical Questions for Leaders

As an athlete or a coach, making decisions can collide with team culture and tradition. Leaders have to constantly ask questions, Baker emphasizes: “How is this serving our best interests? How is this helping us win a game on Saturday? How is this helping us win a championship? If you can’t answer those fundamental questions, leaders have to step up and do the right thing, even when it feels difficult.”

A Learned Skill

When asked if certain people are better suited to leadership roles than others, Baker thinks that is a major social misconception. “Leadership is a skill, and skills can be learned, like throwing and catching. There is a natural bias to favor the extroverted. Leadership has nothing to do with comfort in social skills. It also has nothing to do with athletic ability. Our mission is to empower (people) to step into those roles, start to grow that leadership voice, because everyone has one.”

It Begins with Followship

Baker describes leadership as a “contact sport” where listening to others and the ability to switch between leader and follower are critical. “Followership is the foundation for leadership,” Baker says, “Leaders emerge from being good followers.”

Athletics a Unique Context

Finally, Baker believes that athletics provides a unique context for consciously teaching leadership. “(It) lends itself readily because you’re already organized in teams, there is going to be adversity, going to be issues with motivating each other, all of those things that build a leaders toolkit. The opportunity to put a framework on it while athletes are here competing allows them to make those connections so much earlier, and sets them up for success the rest of their lives.”

Watch the entire interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EjKN8j6m3o

SCI TV Examines Bullying in Professional and NCAA Sports with Suffolk University Law School Professor David Yamada

According to Suffolk University Law School Professor David Yamada, the commitment to create healthier workplaces for athletes on all levels must come from within the organizations themselves.

No Quick Fix

“It takes a multiplicity of forces coming together in a good way to prevent and respond to these behaviors,” Yamada admits, “but there’s no quick fix to any of this.”

Expert David Yamada

David Yamada, a tenured Professor of Law and Director of The New Workplace Institute at Suffolk University Law School in Boston is an internationally recognized authority on the legal aspects of workplace bullying as well as host of the popular blog, Minding the Workspace.

Culture is Key

“Bullying does not occur in isolation,” Yamada states. “It usually is enabled and is sometimes encouraged by the culture of the organization—the profession or vocation that one is in.” “A lot of what we have to do in situations where there’s a specific allegation or concern, is just to find out what’s going on … to get the sense of that particular organization, it’s culture, and to find out what kind of opportunities there are to actually talk to and communicate with people,” Yamada says.

Effect Change

But where does change happen?

“It takes more enlightened leadership to send the message down,” Yamada acknowledges. “It’s hard for us to define (in the abstract) that line between toughness and bullying but at some point we cross the line and we go over into the side of it being abusive. And that’s what we have to look out for.”

So what dynamics can change within the organization to flush the system of the headlines we’ve been seeing?

“It’s a big picture question,” Yamada begins, “to really change this at a fundamental level, we almost have to revisit the question of ‘what is Division I sports all about?’ It really has to be a trickle-down thing that comes from the NCAA as well as the universities themselves.”

Coaches Can Be Part of the Problem

However, bullying doesn’t just happen within the dynamics of a team. Sometimes coaches get involved, too.

“It’s one thing to have a tough coach. It’s one thing to have a tough boss. It’s another thing to have an abusive coach or an abusive boss. And that appears to be that fault line that we’re seeing in these (coaching) situations.”

The common risk factors that set the stage for an abusive work environment inevitably lead toward bullying. “It’s built on aggression. It’s built on physical force. It’s built on intimidation,” Yamada says.

“But even with those qualities in mind, there’s a point at which the interpersonal behaviors can become abusive.”

One of the most recently studied issues is the domestic abuse allegation against Ray Rice, formerly of the Baltimore Ravens.*

“The NFL is sort of a hyper example of what happens when culture trips that wire,” Yamada explains, “the behavior began to shine a light on a culture that had gone too far.”

Yamada explains that it is possible to identify the organizations that breed this behavior.

“We have to remember that research indicates that when you have an organization where there’s a lot of bullying-type behaviors, you’re also going to see other types of interpersonal aggression as well,” he states. “From sexual harassment to physical aggression at times… hostile organizations become a sort of powder keg ready to go off at times.”

Yamada believes that the pressure to win further generates negative, aggressive behavior among both college and professional athletes.

“Each situation has to be handled on its own but with a respect for the facts and the culture of that particular institution. It’s a matter of balance,” Yamada concludes.

Watch the entire interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tgIxTY7jxc

Sports Conflict Institute Announces NCAA Student-Athlete Experience Assessment

With the complexity of intercollegiate athletics, both administrators and coaches understand that the student-athlete experience across all teams needs to be consistent with university mission, objectives, and goals.

Grid of Shame

Yet, according to The College Football Grid of Shame, developed and updated annually by the Wall Street Journal, there are a number of big-time college athletic programs who perform at a very high level on the field but may not be providing a high-caliber student-athlete experience in other key areas.

Neutral Assessment is Key

Mission statements, goals, and objectives provide a starting framework, but the true test is a neutral assessment of teams and the athletic department to safely identify necessary information for student athletes to have confidence in staying the course or to successfully adapt where needed.

A Shift in Focus

According to the Journal of College Student Development, “Research on the academic performance of college athletes should focus on factors related to academic success while students are in college, such as social integration and (the) motivation to succeed…”

Analysis is An Important Step

SCI Founder and Practitioner, Joshua Gordon stated that, “In response to this critical need, SCI is applying its expertise in intercollegiate athletics to this particular area of concern. Even the best intentioned college administrator will struggle with access to key insights and information needed to make good decisions. This analysis is an important step in preventing the types of issues that administrators and coaches might not always see or know about.”

A Strong Need

“More than 460,000 NCAA student-athletes compete in up to 23 sports every year, issuing a strong need for an assessment like this one,” Gordon says.

Ensuring a Quality Student-Athlete Experience

“Member schools support their student-athletes’ academic success by providing state-of-the-art technology, tutoring, and full access to academic advisors. But now we’ve created a way to ensure the student-athletes’ college experience is consistently a strength,” continues Gordon.

Success On and Off the Field

“It’s important that individuals gain all the advantages of being an NCAA student-athlete,” Gordon explains, “and that means having a positive experience on and off the field.” The NCAA’s website reiterates Gordon’s statement, providing a detailed explanation of the value of college sports.

A Real Competitive Advantage

“Once an assessment is done, SCI works closely with the organization to identify an effective path for ensuring that best practices are protected and the areas of concern are addressed. SCI partners with internal resources to ensure that all policies, practices, and procedures align and are consistent in supporting a superior student-athlete experience. It can be a real competitive advantage,” concludes Gordon.

To learn more: https://sportsconflict.org/student-athlete-experience/

Exploring Team Dynamics, Trust, and Cooperation in Sports

In this episode of SCI Talk, we explore team dynamics in the world of college and professional sports with Doug Staneart of The Leaders Institute. He discusses the importance of team dynamics and trust in fostering a strong team culture in athletic organizations.

Listen Now

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Amazon Music | Android | iHeartRadio | RSS

How the NFL Should Respond to the Ray Rice Incident

The National Football League made a clear and undeniable mistake in its initial handling of the Ray Rice domestic violence incident. Even prior to the full video release by TMZ, it is nearly impossible to rationalize a 2 game suspension with any other comparator for bad behavior and its respective punishment. The Baltimore Ravens did the right thing in cutting Ray Rice and the NFL also should be praised for it’s indefinite suspension of Ray Rice from the League.

A Need for Better Process

This video leaves no alternative. Yet, the most interesting question isn’t about punishment or individual accountability but, rather, how does the NFL fix it’s system to ensure it’s process better prevents these heinous acts from happening and to establish a clear organizational culture that bad behavior will not be tolerated in it’s league? No level of talent should skew the moral compass from it’s directional accuracy. .

Here are a few steps the NFL should take immediately to re-establish trust that it can competently manage it’s issues.

Don’t PR your way out of it

The NFL has incredible resources to help manage it’s narrative for on-field and off-field happenings. It’s part of what they do quite well in the sports industry. Yet, where mistakes are made and bad things happen there truly is no substitute for authenticity and acknowledging the mistakes that have been made. On no planet is the initial 2-game suspension defensible. Even if there may have been concern about what disciplinary rules might have allowed for based on evidence at hand, it is far better to err on the side of fair, transparent process and decisions that make sense. My hope in the days ahead is that the tone of the public conversation from the NFL changes on this matter. It shouldn’t be a matter of, “well had we known then what we know now” spin. A bad decision was made even with whatever level of information was available at the time. Own it, be clear about this, and apologize with clear steps to help ensure that things will be different next time.

Assess the Problem

It’s time for a deep assessment of how prevalent domestic violence is in the NFL. The NFL has an opportunity to truly be at the forefront of domestic violence prevention. Bring in the right experts to gather this data. Seek it out, actively. It’s not that the NFL necessarily has a higher rate of domestic violence (see research which argues it’s quite below the national average), but the NFL must accept that it’s visibility imposes a different standard of tolerance than for the rest of the world. Frankly, it would make sense to assess across an array of concerns and life skills to establish a baseline from which to improve.

Fix the Problem

The NFL’s tougher stance announced in August is a good start. How effective are the programs in place? What’s working and what’s not working? Check for efficacy continuously and adapt to make improvements wherever and whenever possible. The NFL Lifeline and NFL Total Wellness programs all sound good. They might very well be great. Make sure they are.  These are great places to invest resources and it takes time for all of these programs to truly permeate the culture of the NFL and it’s players, families, and staff.

Consider a Sports Ombudsman Program

Organizational sports ombuds programs are designed to:

  • Uncover serious problems;
  • Resolve issues as promptly, informally, and fairly as possible;
  • Identify issues and trends and;
  • Initiate organization enhancing change.

Having a trusted resource available to help identify a range of options in any situation is critical. Many struggle to self-identify with a particular support resource they need and an ombudsman can informally handle everything from the mundane to the critical as part of the solution set made available to the NFL community.

No Substitute for Good Process and Good Decisions

The NFL is incredibly resilient. The past year has been filled with concerns around concussions, off-field incidents, locker room culture, and more and the league thrives from a business standpoint. Yet, ultimately, sustainable success will depend on violating some of the PR spin and transparently acknowledging flaws and mistakes. Nobody expects perfection but they do want to trust that broken processes will be fixed and bad decisions will be owned.

 

Author: Joshua Gordon

How To Develop Life Skills for Athletes

How do athletes learn skills such as leadership or conflict management? What do coaches and administrators need to know in fostering development of these skills?

A Fundamental Disconnect

Often there is a disconnect between how we impart these skills on athletes in contrast to how we teach the traditional skills specific to that sport.

Fallacy of the Two-Hour Workshop

Few coaches would expect the fundamentals of pass blocking, for example, to be learned in a two hour workshop and then be part of that athlete’s skill set. Yet, that is often the expectation for these supporting, neck-up competencies like leadership and conflict management. Life skills aren’t learned in a quick classroom session.

A Sample Conversation

At SCI, we often get calls from coaches and administrators that sound like this.

Coach: “We’re having some issues on our team. Can you come in and teach my athletes better conflict management?”

SCI” “Happy to help…”

Coach: “We have set aside two hours to have you come in this season and teach our team how to do this.”

SCI: “Well, that’s a start but few people can acquire much in the way of skills in two hours. Can I ask, how do you teach your athletes the skills they need for your sport?”

Coach: “Well, we review the key information they need and teach them it and then reinforce it at a number of practices throughout the season. We might film them so they can see how well or not well they are doing. Other teammates and coaches will give them feedback. We’ll give awards to those who really get it and spend some extra time with those who don’t. It takes time but it’s worth it.”

SCI: “Exactly.”

“I Get It”

After that conversation, most get it and understand the difference. Unfortunately, the conversation doesn’t always happen for many seeking to develop athletes on life skills such as leadership and conflict management.

What is so powerful about what Cornell is doing is that they get this and live this inconvenient truth about skill acquisition. It’s hard, requires reinforcement and practice, and organizational commitment.

Big Red Leadership Institute As A Model

Cornell Big Red

Our guest on SCI TV this week was Jen Baker, Director of the Big Red Leadership Institute at Cornell University. Leadership, like Conflict Management, is a big topic in college athletics given the close connection between these skills and success on and off the field.

Look at the commitment and understanding in their Mission and Vision:

Big Red Leadership Mission and Vision

 

The depth to which they sustain their program over the four years, using athletics as a laboratory, is a model for life skill development.  It’s what’s in our DNA at SCI. Depth matters.

 SCI TV

Watch the SCI TV episode with Jen Baker to learn more about their leadership development program:

Author: Joshua Gordon

Guarantee Games in NCAA Football

NCAA Football Guarantee Games

For years now, smaller schools around the nation have been traveling to play bigger and better opponents on the road early in the season. These guarantee games have benefits for both schools. The bigger school gets a guaranteed home game on its schedule, a chance to fill the stadium and sell concessions, and an almost certain victory moving them one step closer to bowl eligibility. The smaller school is guaranteed cash, sometimes over $1 million, which can be put toward improving the school or athletic facilities. Increased exposure and the recruiting benefits of having a big school on the schedule is also crucial. For example, it might sway a prospective student athlete when informed he will be playing a game at the Big House in Michigan during his sophomore season. For those reasons, guarantee games are beneficial for the administration and athletic departments of both schools.

But how do these games affect the players on the smaller school team? Are they suffering a humiliating defeat and risking injury so that their university can accept a payday? Is it truly competition, a fundamental element of sports, when a small school is likely to be blown out by 60 or more points? In fact, guarantee games are great for the small school players in addition to their universities, here is why.

NCAA Football Players can Benefit from the Payday

In 2005, the University at Buffalo made $1.5 million for playing three guarantee games. They finished the season with 1 win and 10 losses. However, the money from those three guarantee losses was spent on new locker room furniture and a new weight room. In that case, the money from the guarantee games was a direct benefit to the players

One of the concerns surrounding the recent O’Bannon ruling is that the $5,000 minimum cap required under the ruling will benefit the bigger, wealthier schools. That is to say, assuming the NCAA wishes to limit the amount of name, image, and likeness money schools may pay players it may not cap that limit below $5,000 for any player (As an aside, the cap is roughly based on the amount of a currently available Pell Grant and is an extremely odd part of this ruling considering it is an antitrust case, but that is another story altogether). Further assuming the NCAA sets the cap at the minimum, bigger schools will theoretically have the funding and desire to pay every recruit the additional $5,000 permitted under O’Bannon on top of the cost of attendance. Smaller schools will not be able to afford to do so and further, will not be allowed to pay in excess of $5,000 to a single recruit to try and woo him from a bigger school. Therefore, the wealthier schools gain a recruiting advantage under the minimum cap because they can pay even second-tier recruits, who smaller schools may have had a chance at getting, above the cost of attendance.

However, the money earned by small schools through guarantee games could free up other athletic money earned through name, image, and likeness to go to recruits. While that name, image, and likeness money might previously have been needed for other costs, the money from the guarantee game might be used toward those costs instead. Therefore, under O’Bannon, guarantee games might allow smaller schools to use name, image, and likeness money to pay a greater number of their recruits above the cost of attendance.

NCAA Football Players get a Once-in-a-Lifetime Experience

For a high school football player, it would be a dream to play for Southern California, Michigan, or Alabama. The reality is, only a few will get the chance to play in a national caliber program. For those that do not get that chance, playing in those schools’ stadiums as an opponent is the next best thing. Getting beaten badly is beside the point to some extent and not humiliating whatsoever. It will give many college athletes the experience of playing on the biggest stage in the game, against the very best players in their game, and they will likely be treated like a big school athlete.

For example, when I was playing college baseball we visited Arizona State and Oklahoma State, two highly ranked baseball programs with big-time facilities. While playing centerfield at Arizona State, I looked toward the left field wall to see Barry Bonds’ name and number honoring him as an ASU alum. I realized I was roaming the same outfield that he once played in. At Oklahoma State, we played in the amenity-filled AAA ballpark in Oklahoma City, we got to stay in an amazing hotel, and ended up splitting the two-game series with them. When I look back on college ball, those are two of my favorite memories.

For small school players in guarantee games, walking into the Big House in Michigan, the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, or Bryant-Denny in Alabama will be the chance of a lifetime. Someday many of those players will be telling kids and grandkids they played at USC against a future NFL star or Heisman trophy winner. The outcome of the game will not matter in their stories, nor will the money exchanged. The experience of competing against the best will be their most valued memory.

That’s why they Play the Games

In 2007, Appalachian State of the Football Championship Subdivision, essentially the second tier of college football, played a guarantee game at Michigan. Michigan was an 11-time national champion, had roughly triple the enrollment of Appalachian State, and offered 22 more football scholarships. The game was to be so lopsided that the Las Vegas sports books did not set a betting line. Appalachian State beat the Wolverines 34-32 in what will go down as one of the greatest wins in school history. Wins like that are rare for the small school in a guarantee game, but that is why they play the games. For players on small school teams the experience is wonderful, but they are still playing to compete and approach the game as though it can be won.

Upset Watch in NCAA Football

Here are a few matchups from the first few weeks of the 2014 season to look out for:

8.30.14: Appalachian State @ Michigan
South Dakota State @ Missouri
Louisiana Tech @ Oklahoma

9.6.14: Sacramento State @ California
Eastern Washington @ Washington
Nicholls State @ Arkansas

Author: Kevin Cave, JD

Addressing College Football’s Attendance Decline

After more than 25 years, my oldest childhood friend just decided to give up his season tickets for football at the University of Florida. I asked Jimmy why. I asked him if it was because he was finally outgrowing football. Hell, that might mean that I might outgrow the sport some day (in the distant future). Or if it was because the Gators are going through hard times with an offense that scores less than the Pope.

The Real Reasons

Now Jimmy did admit that he would like to fish more, if that is a sign of growth, and that the team’s woes were a factor. However, those were not the main reasons. Simply put, he was tired of spending lots of money to watch long games against mediocre opponents in the blazing Gainesville heat.

The good news is that these are all issues that the University of Florida, in particular, and the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) schools, more generally, can address. The bad news is that this does not seem to be the focus, even though attendance has generally been in decline since 2008.

The Problem Is Not Packaging

The FBS schools are keenly aware of the challenges posed by the sheer quantity of college football viewing options, the quality of HD production, the convenience of chilling and grilling at home, and the aging ticket buying demographic. “All of the surveys I see show that the average season-ticket holder is 50-plus,” claimed Matt DiFebo, vice president of IMG Learfield Ticket Solutions. “There’s a whole segment of the fan base that schools are having difficulty reaching.”

Athletic Departments are experimenting with lots of solutions. They’re trying variable pricing and dynamic pricing. Georgia is reducing the student allotment from 18,000 to 15,000 in an effort to lure younger alum. In addition to halving the student allotment from 10,000 to 5,000, Kentucky is also downsizing their capacity to improve the quality of the accommodations, which will presumably allow them to charge more.

The Problem Is the Product

Some of these solutions might make a small, short term difference. However, I have a really hard time believing that making it harder for students to attend games is a wise way to cultivate lasting loyalty.

The issues that Jimmy identified are far more crucial. Consider Florida’s 2014 home schedule. They are in the SEC, which means they have a really tough schedule, including home games against LSU, South Carolina, and once powerful Tennessee. The problem is that the season ticket package also includes contests against Idaho, Eastern Michigan, and Eastern Kentucky. Jimmy is not the only fan who would rather go fishing than watch three lambs gets slaughtered. Eastern Kentucky should be squaring off against Eastern Michigan. The Gators should be playing another FBS school.

Last season Alabama suspended the block seating privileges for 20 student organizations because so many fans elected to leave blowouts early, but the real problem is that so many of the games are blowouts.

Florida has done their best to start these meaningless games later in the day, sparing fans the full brunt of being in the Sunshine state in late summer. But many programs schedule such games during the middle of the day. 

Uncompetitive match-ups played in unpleasant conditions are especially hard to take because they last so damn long. NFL games usually take three hours. College ones usually take three-and-a-half or more because the commercial timeouts are longer and the clock stops to move the chain after every first down.

Resist Short Term Temptation

You might ask why the FBS schools have not aggressively addressed these issues. Part of the reason is that they have been complacent, assuming that college football will always be King on Saturday, but the bigger reason is their short term fixation on maximizing revenue. Games sometimes have to be played in the blazing heat to accommodate the real king, TV. The extra commercials generate more money for America’s favorite amateur sport and the 200-plus minute games with 20-minute halftimes increase concession sales. And the slaughtered lambs increase the chances of schools having winning records, which helps coaches keep lucrative jobs longer.

The problem is that the Jimmys of the world are starting to opt for more fishing, especially when their alma mater struggles. Nick Saban can get away with punishing student organizations because the Crimson Tide are competing for national titles most seasons. But the betting here is that he would not try to do that if Alabama was in the middle of a series of eight-win seasons.

College Football is a negative-sum game. For every Alabama, there are eight other teams in the SEC that have no realistic chance at conference honors, let alone a Top Ten ranking. Given this, the FBS schools really need to think about how they can foster long-term loyalty, which can see a school through the inevitable lean years, rather than trying to suck out every dollar when times are good and scrambling by offering gimmicks like dynamic and variable pricing pricing when they are not.

Good times don’t last; far-sighted policies do.

–Ken Pendleton

Student-Athletes In Transition: Secrets to Success

With the start of a new academic year, college athletes and coaches prepare for another season and often a whole new environment. They encounter new team members, the pressures of performance and a longing for home. During this program, Joshua Gordon, of the Sports Conflict Institute and Stephen Kotev will discuss what student athletes and coaches can do to optimize their performance on and off the field.

A conflict management professional for more than twenty years, Mr. Gordon is an experienced mediator, facilitator, educator, and organizational capability builder. Mr. Gordon specializes in sports related conflict management building on a history of contexts that have included business-to-business, organizational change, energy, environmental, real estate and housing, family, and gang-related conflict and disputes. He especially appreciates and enjoys complex, multi-party conflict that requires non-traditional solutions to impasse.

Stephen Kotev is a Washington D.C. based conflict resolution consultant offering mediation, negotiation, conflict analysis, facilitation, training and somatic education to private and government clients. He holds a Master of Science degree from George Mason University’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and a black belt in the Japanese martial art of Aikido. He is a former employee of the Association for Conflict Resolution, the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution, the Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Resolution and the D.C. Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency as an ADR Specialist.

New Sports Internet Radio with Texas Conflict Coach on BlogTalkRadio