2010 World Lacrosse Championships - Lessons from Team Ireland

Photo Courtesy of John Ryan

I'm back from playing with the Irish National Team in the 2010 World Lacrosse Championships. We finished 9th out of 29 competing nations, and were proud of how we represented Ireland. Lacrosse is a developing sport worldwide, but it's humbling to be a part of an event that showcases such incredible international growth. To be playing alongside Dubliners working tirelessly to advance lacrosse in Ireland is a rewarding and invigorating experience, but to play against players from around the globe (from Mexico and Argentina to South Korea and Slovakia) is a once in a lifetime opportunity that all athletes should be fortunate enough to experience.

Throughout my time in Manchester I kept a blog at Inside Lacrosse, and included the links to follow. My experience was tremendously rewarding, and there were a number of lessons and experiences that relate back to our leadership and team development work. Take a look at the blogs, and shoot over any questions/comments about the games, what I took away, and how you can learn more about the advancement of lacrosse in Ireland:

Training Camp

http://insidelacrosse.com/blog/2010/07/11/world-ireland-day-two-training-camp

We've Arrived

http://insidelacrosse.com/blog/2010/07/13/fil-world-championships-world-ireland-weve-arrived

Almost There

http://insidelacrosse.com/blog/2010/07/14/fil-world-championships-world-ireland-almost-there

Three Games In

http://insidelacrosse.com/blog/2010/07/20/blogs-manchester-dan-leidl-and-john-ryan-team-three-games-tournament

First Loss

http://insidelacrosse.com/blog/2010/07/23/blogs-manchester-team-ireland-tournament-outside-blue-division

Final Entry

http://insidelacrosse.com/blog/2010/07/25/blogs-manchester-team-ireland-wrapping

A Rotten Apple? Leadership Follies from "Antennagate"

On June 24^th, a public relations nightmare began for Apple when word leaked that there may be issues with the latest version of its immensely popular iPhone 4. Specifically, users provided evidence of a defective antennae design that causes poor connections and dropped calls when the phone was held in a certain way.

With over 3 million of his company's smartphones sold in the first 22 days on the market, Apple CEO Steve Jobs cut short his Hawaii vacation to address this issue in a hastily scheduled press conference on Friday, July 16^th. As "antennagate" gained momentum, Apple handled some things poorly, while they ended up getting it right. It's another story that offers a few leadership lessons from which we can all learn.

1) Communicate, don't fall behind

While few would argue that Apple has been consistently ahead of the curve with their smartphone technology, the folks at Apple fell behind this story early and had trouble catching up. Perhaps they didn't anticipate the coverage, but from the beginning Apple remained quiet as the story gained momentum. The information that was released was largely unsympathetic to end-users. Jobs himself suggested customers "avoid holding it in that way," while internal troubleshooting guidelines suggested that customer service agents should not offer free cases, and instead instruct customers where to (not) hold the phone.

You can read the rest of the article here. Let us know what you think!

Five Leadership Lessons from the LeBron James LeBacle

Recently, NBA's free agent period began, where athletes whose contracts had expired were free to explore their options with other teams. This year's free agent crop was arguably the best in the history of the league and has been widely discussed for the past three years. Household names such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Amare Staudemire all shopped for new employers, and enjoyed being wined by the teams that desperately wanted their services.

The manner in which events played out were, in some ways, shocking. The fiasco also provided unexpected insight into leadership from both the athletes and the owners and general managers that were recruiting them. To follow are five of the most salient lessons:

1) Know your audience

Pat Riley, GM for the Miami Heat, deserves a lot of credit for netting the top three free agents on the market in Wade, Bosh, and James. He convinced each of these superstars to take less money than he could have made in other cities. But how did he do it? The New York Knicks presentation to James focused largely on James' brand and potential earnings. The Nets sold James on being a billionaire. It appears that only Riley found out what James really wanted - to play with his friends and win championships. And Riley was successful in selling that vision to James.

The rest of the article can be found here. Let us know what you think!

The BP oil crisis: What leaders will emerge?

The BP oil spill that began with the April 20^th Deepwater Horizon explosion is now estimated to be the largest oil spill in history. Multiple story lines have evolved from this disaster, and each provides an opportunity for leaders to succeed or fail in remarkable ways. To follow are five ongoing themes from the disaster that have the potential to offer lasting lessons on leading through crises

1. CEO Survival

From the beginning, BP CEO Tony Hayward has seemed to bungle his way through the crisis. From the minimal early estimates of the amount of crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico to his perplexing attendance at a yacht race and subsequent cancellation of a speaking appearance at an oil conference, Hayward has been consistently inconsistent. While the BP Board offered the embattled CEO public support, his role as the public face of BP has already been diminished, and there's speculation that the CEO will be terminated after the well has been capped. Can any leader rebound from the sheer number of gaffes following a disaster of this magnitude?

Click here to read the rest of this article, and let us know what you think.