Page 221 - How to Create a Winning Organization

Seek Significant Change
The events of that 1962 season changed me as a leader—forced 203
me to dig deep to look for ways to break through to a higher com-
petitive level. Some of the changes resulted from my own reflections
and research, but important changes came from the minds of others.

ALWAYS QUESTION, ALWAYS PROBE
Denny Crum, a former player and assistant coach who went on to
win two national championships as head coach of Louisville, asked
more questions than anyone I’ve ever met. When he worked with
me, he never stopped asking why I made the choices I did.
But Denny did it in a way that was usually appropriate—neither
contentious nor confrontational—and always intelligently. He al-
ways wanted to know the logic behind what I was doing, and he
never stopped probing. The kinds of questions he asked, and the
recommendations he offered, consistently revealed great insight
and understanding of the game. In the process of asking all his
questions, he made me a better coach and teacher because he
forced me to think even harder about the logic of the decisions I
was making.

All this is possible only when the leader—you—is willing to lis-
ten with open ears and an open mind. Coach Crum impressed me
even then with the intelligence of his questions. I knew he would
do quite well if he chose to become a head basketball coach, and I
was right. At Louisville, Denny Crum appeared in the Final Four
six times, won two national titles, and was elected to the Naismith
Basketball Hall of Fame.