March Madness
Down by one point with 2.1 seconds remaining, Grant Hill threw a 75-foot pass to Christian Laettner. He dribbled once, turned around and shot. Swish. Duke 104, Kentucky 103.
If you’re a fan of college basketball then you likely remember the 1992 NCAA regional championship game between Duke and Kentucky. It’s widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball games ever.
At Gibson, March Madness typically comes the second week of the month when we hold our Human Capital Summit (HCS) for area employers. We put on several major seminars for employers throughout the year, but the HCS is our largest event.
Human Capital Summit
Last week was our 7th annual HCS – and arguably our best yet. We host the event in South Bend, Indiana, and typically have over 150 attendees. But this year we had nearly 250 CFOs, CEOs, Human Resource Directors and other HR professionals.
We’ve received rave reviews from our clients about the new format this year, the quality of the speakers, and the relevance of the topics. Even the breakfast, lunch, and drink options at the daylong event got high marks. On the surface, it’s something our regular annual attendees have come to expect. It never fails that several folks tell me afterward, “I go to a lot of these and nobody does it like you do!”
But long before the buzzer sounds and the nets are cut down, a team was hard at work: strategizing, planning, and orchestrating so by the time the game starts, everything runs like a well-oiled machine. In fact nearly 20% of our entire company had a role in the event – and that is just the “official” ones.
We begin planning every year in November for an event that occurs the following March. Ideas are shared. Formats and potential speakers get debated. As legendary coach John Wooden said, “You are not the only person with good ideas. Always seek to find the best way rather than insisting on your own way.” It’s through collaboration that we’ve been able to keep this event fresh and relevant after seven years.
Putting on an event like this is not cheap. We seek sponsors, so someone on our team takes responsibility for securing financial support. Another is responsible for gaining the commitment of top national speakers as we convince them to come to South Bend.
Our audience strongly prefers having event materials in hand. So the week of the event we had three people working on multiple copy machines to create the packets that contained over 16,000 sheets of paper in total. This year, with the RSVP list growing by the day, and a presenter with last minute materials, we had to scramble to meet the deadline. No complaints from “the bench” about the need for extra help, just a sense of duty and pride in the event.
Nobody would have known it, but due to some miscommunication, lunch was in jeopardy. A savvy teammate, checking over the details “one last time”, noticed it and fixed the problem. (Have you ever faced down 200+ hungry HR people after several hours of listening to speakers?) Crisis averted!
As Wooden says about team players, “Each of us must make the effort to contribute, to the best of our ability and according to our own individual talents. Then we put all the individual talents together for the highest good of the group.”
What’s the Risk?
So you’ve turned in your bracket by now. Will our Indiana Hoosiers make it all the way? Will Notre Dame, Butler, or even Valpo have a Cinderella Story? Somewhere along the way, they will face a challenge. When adversity strikes will they be able to overcome it?
“A crisis causes people to think and act as individuals rather than as part of a team,” writes Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski. "If you manage a crisis when the time comes, it is already too late to establish the communication and trust that should already exist.”
To ensure your team is ready for the big game, practice the following:
- Recruit unique talents – leverage the perspectives of those who may think differently than you; the results will be amazing.
- Drive open and honest communication – this creates a trusting environment.
- Keep egos in check – hold each other accountable.
- Collaborate – as Ken Blanchard says, “None of us is as smart as all of us.”
- Believe! – attitude is key when faced with adversity.
“A lot of people say that we were lucky that day [in 1992]. I say, luck favors those who have spent their preparation time building effective systems of communication and trust in one another,” says Coach K. “That way when a crisis occurs, it can turn into an opportunity to shine."
