I Changed it to show his answers to the quesitons only. Linky will take you to the whole article.
http://www.bizaz.com/features/articles.cms/itemid=roundtable_nd03
bizAZ: What is the single most important thing a manager or leader can do?
Frank Johnson: For me, in my job as head coach, it is to surround myself with coaches that are very good and not feel threatened that one day they're going to take my job.
Scott Jacobson: So do you look for people that can replace you?
Johnson: Yes, you do. That can replace you, not that they will. There may be situations for me that, say, I might be kicked out of a game, and I gotta have that guy in place for me. I need someone to step in as a coach.
bizAZ: Do you think that leadership qualities themselves differ from industry to industry?
Johnson: My experience is dealing with high-priced athletes who get paid an enormous amount of money. And it [the money] is guaranteed. So now, I've got to con them-'con' as in convince-to do their jobs a certain way. There is a saying the players have developed: "You can work me as long as you want, but you can't work me as hard you want." Because their salaries are not based on their performance, I have to go around in a different way. Am I going to trade or cut someone with a contract that is making $9 million a year? I don't think so. Jerry [Colangelo] is going to say, "You've got to find a way to get him to do his job." And that is my job as a leader.
Jacobson: So what do you hold out? Parking?
Johnson: As a coach, all I have is playing time. And some of the guys that are not playing, they hope to get more playing time. So they are willing to do all the little things it takes to get to that level.
Mohr: So it is a lot about how much passion they have as a player? It needs to be within them?
Johnson: There is no question about it. And that is why sometimes your top players can be your best leaders. I may have a relationship with maybe the top two players where I can sit down and hold them accountable. And then they can hold the whole group accountable.
bizAZ: What are some common mistakes that leaders make?
Johnson: The people that you are in charge of, like you were all saying, they would like to take part in the success of your company. By example, last year the team came in and wanted to focus on defense. We said that is what the team is going to be about. And my guys bought into that. But all along I had a team of offense players. They came to me, and said, "Coach, we certainly are buying into defense, but the group that we have here is an offensive group. You need to give us a little bit more freedom." And there was a two- or three-week stretch when I was like "I'm in charge." It wasn't until I sat down and listened to their needs…
Jacobson: So it changed your strategy?
Johnson: Yeah, it did. Listening to their needs.
bizAZ: So, what are each of your own personal management/leadership philosophies?
Johnson: Discipline. The young men that I have had a chance to be with the last couple of years… just have to have discipline. You have to have it when your superiors are not around.
bizAZ: If your employees or players or students were here, what would they say about you as a manager?
Johnson: They may say a lot about me. Certainly at times, they would say that I am too intense. I do communicate, maybe not in the tone that they would like, and certainly I'm fair.
http://www.bizaz.com/features/articles.cms/itemid=roundtable_nd03
bizAZ: What is the single most important thing a manager or leader can do?
Frank Johnson: For me, in my job as head coach, it is to surround myself with coaches that are very good and not feel threatened that one day they're going to take my job.
Scott Jacobson: So do you look for people that can replace you?
Johnson: Yes, you do. That can replace you, not that they will. There may be situations for me that, say, I might be kicked out of a game, and I gotta have that guy in place for me. I need someone to step in as a coach.
bizAZ: Do you think that leadership qualities themselves differ from industry to industry?
Johnson: My experience is dealing with high-priced athletes who get paid an enormous amount of money. And it [the money] is guaranteed. So now, I've got to con them-'con' as in convince-to do their jobs a certain way. There is a saying the players have developed: "You can work me as long as you want, but you can't work me as hard you want." Because their salaries are not based on their performance, I have to go around in a different way. Am I going to trade or cut someone with a contract that is making $9 million a year? I don't think so. Jerry [Colangelo] is going to say, "You've got to find a way to get him to do his job." And that is my job as a leader.
Jacobson: So what do you hold out? Parking?
Johnson: As a coach, all I have is playing time. And some of the guys that are not playing, they hope to get more playing time. So they are willing to do all the little things it takes to get to that level.
Mohr: So it is a lot about how much passion they have as a player? It needs to be within them?
Johnson: There is no question about it. And that is why sometimes your top players can be your best leaders. I may have a relationship with maybe the top two players where I can sit down and hold them accountable. And then they can hold the whole group accountable.
bizAZ: What are some common mistakes that leaders make?
Johnson: The people that you are in charge of, like you were all saying, they would like to take part in the success of your company. By example, last year the team came in and wanted to focus on defense. We said that is what the team is going to be about. And my guys bought into that. But all along I had a team of offense players. They came to me, and said, "Coach, we certainly are buying into defense, but the group that we have here is an offensive group. You need to give us a little bit more freedom." And there was a two- or three-week stretch when I was like "I'm in charge." It wasn't until I sat down and listened to their needs…
Jacobson: So it changed your strategy?
Johnson: Yeah, it did. Listening to their needs.
bizAZ: So, what are each of your own personal management/leadership philosophies?
Johnson: Discipline. The young men that I have had a chance to be with the last couple of years… just have to have discipline. You have to have it when your superiors are not around.
bizAZ: If your employees or players or students were here, what would they say about you as a manager?
Johnson: They may say a lot about me. Certainly at times, they would say that I am too intense. I do communicate, maybe not in the tone that they would like, and certainly I'm fair.
