Phil Jackson, the legendary “Zen Master” of basketball, holds nine NBA championship rings as a head coach – a staggering feat rarely matched in professional sports. But what was his secret sauce?
While his unorthodox methods and mellow demeanor often grabbed headlines, one of Jackson’s key characteristics often goes overlooked: coachability.
Jackson’s journey with the Triangle Offense exemplifies the power of a coachable leader.
In the 1960s, high school basketball coach Tex Winter developed the Triangle Offense, a complex system emphasizing teamwork, player movement and open shots. In 1985, Winter joined the Chicago Bulls as an assistant coach. Winter tried to convince head coach Doug Collins to embrace the offense, but players initially struggled to adopt the complex and novel system.
However, fellow assistant coach Phil Jackson saw the potential in Winter’s idea. When Jackson became Bulls head coach in 1989, he implemented Winter’s unconventional style of offense.
Despite some resistance from within the Bulls organization, Jackson remained committed to the Triangle. Jackson showed great humility as the head of the coaching staff; he actively sought Winter’s guidance, incorporated his feedback and adapted the system to fit players’ strengths.
Winter was impressed by Jackson’s willingness to learn, and the duo developed a mutual respect and open communication that helped ensure the Triangle’s effective implementation. The result? Six NBA championships for the Chicago Bulls and another three for the Los Angeles Lakers under Jackson’s leadership.
So, what lessons can we draw from this example?
Often, we meet leaders who immediately understand the importance of developing coachability in their team members, but they don’t necessarily think about how improving their own coachability can elevate the whole organization. While it’s true that a team’s success depends on team members’ openness to growth and feedback, it’s just as crucial for leaders to develop their individual coachability.
There are two main reasons for this:
The world around us is constantly changing. A good leader persists through it; an excellent leader adapts to it. When the environment around us evolves, we often find that suddenly our role requires new skills or strategies.
Consider the shift in landscape in the NBA in the late 1980s: There was a rise in physical, “grindit-out” basketball with an emphasis on strong defense. The Triangle Offense’s unpredictability and focus on exploiting defensive weaknesses proved advantageous in this environment. Phil Jackson’s coachability – his willingness to learn and employ a new strategy – helped his team become not only competitive, but dominant, in this new landscape.
And as it turns out, if you’re adaptable, you’re promotable. As you move up through the organization, you’re going to need to perform new capabilities, so being more coachable is linked to being more promotable.
Data shows that as individuals move up in an organization, oftentimes their coachability declines. Leaders can get complacent; they continually approach their work with the same methods they’ve always used because those practices elevated them to their current station.
But the truth is this: The skillset that helped someone ascend to a certain level is not necessarily a useful skillset for their future work. A coachable leader recognizes the need to continuously evolve and update their skills, and in this way, they have an advantage over other candidates for a promotion.
When leaders demonstrate coachability, they not only create positive outcomes for themselves; coachable leaders construct collaborative atmospheres where their team members thrive as well. Leaders have the power to make or break an organization’s culture of coachability.
Some key coachability factors are especially crucial for leaders to develop. The presence (or lack) of these traits in leaders can impact the coachability of whole teams and organizations.
Remember, even the Zen Master didn’t reach the top alone. Phil Jackson had a strategy-minded assistant coach, a team of brilliant players and a willingness to learn and listen that allowed the team to collectively harness all their individual greatness.
Largely because of Jackson’s coachability, the Chicago Bulls became champions – multiple times over. Whether you’re leading a sports team, a business or a community group, embracing coachability can unlock your true leadership potential and propel you – and your team – to incredible new heights.
Jake Weiss, Ph.D., is president & CEO of Coachability Consultants. Email Jake at jake.weiss@coachabilityconsultants.com or connect through https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-weiss-ph-d-a6a92aa3/.
Darby Evans is a consultant, content and instructional design, for Coachability Consultants. Email Darby at darby.evans@coachabilityconsultants.com or connect through https://www.linkedin.com/in/darby-evans-0956145b/.