Shaking Adversity's Hand

It’s a timeless tradition in college basketball. A team loses in excruciating fashion to a bitter rival — and now the players must pass by their counterparts for the postgame handshake.

But after an incident earlier this month between Michigan Coach Juwan Howard and the Wisconsin staff, reporters, fans and even some college basketball experts questioned whether it was time to end this perhaps antiquated practice.

Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo had a harsh rebuke for this suggestion.

“We’ve already taught these poor 18-year-olds when you’re told to go to class, if you don’t like it, you can leave. We’ve already told these kids if you’re not happy, you can do something else,” Izzo said.

“Now we’re gonna tell them to not man up and walk down a line on someone who’s kicked your butt and have enough class to shake their hand is utterly ridiculous.”

Izzo’s words were widely lauded across the college basketball world and drew overwhelming praise on social media. But they’re relevant far beyond just sports.

For us as leaders, it’s important to realize that it’s easy to celebrate success and be honorable in victory. But the truer measure of our team’s character is how we handle hardship, adversity and disappointment.

Beyond equipping those we lead with knowledge, advice and various strategies to accomplish a mission, we also have an obligation to develop their emotional intelligence. That means finding the lessons in failure, the perspective in heartbreak and exhibiting maturity when that may not be our first instinct.

Taking the easy way out — in this case, abandoning a college basketball practice that has been in place for decades — is almost never the solution, no matter how tempting it may be in the moment.

Leading during good times is challenging enough, leading during tumult is even more so. But these instances distinguish the great from the good, the good from the average — and our ability to navigate trying circumstances is ultimately what will determine our own leadership legacies.

Adversity should never be something we run from.

When it comes, we must stand tall, stare it in the eyes and, ultimately, shake its hand.