The Coach Who Listens

The Purdue Boilermakers find themselves in familiar territory this time of the college basketball season. 

They’re ranked No. 2 in the country and are in first place in the Big Ten thanks in large part to gritty and skilled players and creative Xs and Os.

But beyond the tactics, schemes and ability, there’s another leadership hallmark in West Lafayette that has propelled Purdue to the top of the sport: Trust.

In a recent clip that garnered widespread attention on X, Coach Matt Painter spent the first part of a timeout listening to his players, then asked one in particular if he could make a tricky lob pass late in a game against Wisconsin.

“Can you throw it?” Painter asked, before listening intently. “O.K. We’ll flip-flop it then.”

What ensued out of the timeout was a brilliant pass and ferocious dunk that sealed the win for Purdue. 

The 20-second soundbite has a couple of important takeaways for us as leaders:

1. Let our team members talk
2. Act on what they’re telling us 

In intense competition, we often want to be the ones who assess the situations and come up with the perfect solutions.

But ultimately, those we lead have to execute our visions, and sometimes, they see and sense things that we cannot. 

We may benefit from recognizing that deferring to our members and getting their perspectives of what’s feasible isn’t weak, nor does it undermine our authority.

A willingness to hear them out can be the difference between a clutch dunk and a costly turnover.

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