Leadership

Dan Rooney: Business and Leadership Lessons from “A Different Way to Win”

Posted on by Lindsay Racen
A Different Way to Win Book

Photo Adapted from Book Cover and Remembering Dan Rooney | NFL on YouTube

Sports are a part of my heart and soul, and in particular Pittsburgh sports. I proudly bleed black and gold, which is why I was so excited when I unwrapped A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule on Christmas day. This article is more of a reflection on the lessons that I gained from reading this book rather than a traditional review. It’s also my way of honoring Dan Rooney who in my yes, thanks to this book, is an inspirational leader who truly changed the world in so many ways. His influence and integrity helped shape ethical business practices in the NFL, brought hope to the land of his heritage in Ireland and of course helped fuel the passion of millions of Steelers fans around the world.

Steelers Fanship: My Personal Connection

I am a diehard Steelers fan who bleeds black and gold. My beloved grandparents are resting there and my extended family still calls Uniontown its home. So it’s no surprise that this isn’t the first Steelers-related book I’ve read. I’ve devoured many others, but none as possibly personal and as business-oriented as this one. This book was minted in December I noticed when I turned the first page, which struck me with a sense of pride to be among the elite few early readers to pick up the biography.

True story, I named my dog (@Chief_The_Thief on Instagram) after the original founder and owner of the Steelers: Art Rooney – aka “The Chief.” This book covers the life of his son Dan Rooney, and is written by his grandson Jim Rooney. How special is that? One of my favorite things about my beloved franchise is the fact that it’s a family business and I can’t imagine that would ever change generations from now. It I think it would devastate me if that tradition was ever broken but I’m confident I won’t have to see such a day.

Fans generally know cosmetic or public facts about the administrative leaders of their favorite teams. So going into this book I knew that Dan Rooney was the American Ambassador to the land of his heritage, Ireland, and that he genuinely loved the game of football and his the Iron City. That’s about it. He passed away in 2017 and all the players on my team proudly wore a “DMR” patch with a green clover in honor of him. But this book revealed so much more that made me feel even more proud to be a Steelers fan.

Dan Rooney: On Leadership, Integrity and Peace

Dan was a man of great integrity and faith. He was clearly brilliant, charismatic and knew how to use his influence to make positive change. To me that last part is becoming more of a rareity than it should be as many use their influential power that result in negative outcomes far too often. This book carried so many lessons in leadership.

The funny thing is that I, like most people, once believed a lot of leadership is simply common sense. Even as I was taking graduate classes on the subject, and earned an extra graduate certificate in organizational leadership addition to my MBA at Brandman University, I considered the curriculum pretty easy. Maybe this allowed me to enjoy them far more without stressing about the grade. But I soon learned that common sense is not so common and true leadership is a rare skill to come by now adays. That’s what made this book so impressive. It illuminated all the great things Dan Rooney did in his life that extended far beyond the football field.

Dan Rooney devoted his life to helping others. The world may not know it, but this story reveals what a massive impact he made on Ireland, its people and its history as a country. He did something no other politician has done to my knowledge, he brought grassroots back to social progress. He held town hall meetings and spent one-on-one time with the citizens. I’ve been to Ireland and it holds so many wonderful memories from my time there. From that experience I can really see what actions like that could do to help the people. The country was literally at civil war during “The Troubles” and Dan was able to use his position of power and his love for his heritage to implement peaceful solutions when hope was hard to come by.

Standing Up for Ethics and Equality in Business

There were of course references to the Steeler’s championships and heroic moments that millions of sports fans know and love about the franchise, but all that was simply a positive side effect of his leadership. A huge part of this book was the creation of the “Rooney Rule” named after Dan himself. This is where his integrity and brilliance in building authentic business relationships thrived.

One of the key takeaways I learned about Mr. Rooney was that he did not see skincolor. The Rooney Rule was created to give minorities in the NFL opportunities to be successful. Many were players themselves, and there is a clear historical connection between the two realms, but when you read more about the dynamics that went into implementing the Ronney Rule it really was impressive and facinating.

The stories that came out of this warmed my heart. It solidified of course why I’ve always loved and felt connected to Tony Dungy and of course our current Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. They among others are direct products of the Rooney Rule. Their success stories inspire me and I hope many others who read about the life of this Irish-American hero named Dan Rooney.

As a business professional I also appreciate stories of extending the impact of the Rooney Rule into other industries including the private sector. I felt such a strong sense of pride for Dan Rooney when reading the epilogue to find out that the spirit and principles of the model like meritocracy were adopted by some of the most successful brands that rule our everyday lives. In Silicon Valley the concept was embodied by the founding of Poject Include, a nonprofit organization whoe mission is to “give everyone a fair chance to succeed in tech.” Participating companies include giants such as Amazon, Facebook, HubSpot, Intel, LinkedIn, Lyft, Microsoft and Xerox.

This is just one of many reasons why Dan Rooney was truly incredible! He proved well before Simon Sinek‘ that when great leaders begin with “Why” they can inspire action that matters.  He showed all future leaders that when they lead with heart and implement concepts in smart and honorable ways, they can truly change the world.

Valuing What Matters Most

Finally, in an industry where the value of a dollar has absolute power, Dan Rooney’s stance on the matter was truly special. He of course had pleanty of money by the end of his life thanks to the success of the league and the franchise he helped build. But like many, it wasn’t always like that. He took risks, invested his own dollars in a team whose success depended entirely on others whose performance was for the most part out of his control. He was innately torn and struggled daily on the idea of the growing wealth. He understood its value, but he was not a greedy soul. He saw the corruption that often comes with money and always kept that on the forefront of his perspective.

This internal struggle hit home for me and it mirrors my own stance on the matter as well as my opinion of social media an honestly my profession of marketing in general. Let me explain. I am proud to be the creator of the instagram account @BookQuotes_InColor. I’ve personally run my company’s social media accounts, and as a content marketer am constantly connected with the industry. That being said I have a passionate love/hate relationship with social media and am torn with things like followership just as Dan Rooney was with monetary gain.

I recognize the good, the creative expression it brings, the connections it makes in our communities, and the memories it holds record of.  But I also have seen the negative impact it has had on things like self-esteem, creating chaos and amplifyng negativity that almost outrule my appreciation. But life is a balance, and Dan Rooney reocgnized this and used his ability to weigh the pros and cons of a situation to bring to the forefront what matters most – People, Equality, Integrity, and Peace.

If you’ve gotten this far in my reflection then I thank you and hope you’ve found it helpful. But I’ll also encourage you to follow @BookQuotes_InColor on instagram if you are interested in some of my favorite quotes from A Different Way to Win: Dan Rooney’s Story from the Super Bowl to the Rooney Rule and others. I bring this up not for a plug, I truly created this account to solve a personal need, which then turned into sharing my love for reading and writing with the world – my “Why” – but also to share some wisdom from this wonderful book:

So of course I give nothing but high recommendation for this book to all who may be interested in it, and I hope that it inspires you to lead with integrity in all that you do. God Bless and thank you to the Rooney family for leading Steeler Nation with love.

Recommended Sports Leadership Books

          

Changing School Culture: Successful Strategies from a High School Principal

Posted on by Lindsay Racen

This article was originally published on acsa.org

Changing School Culture

Amy Belser is the principal of Bear River High School, a comprehensive public high school serving hundreds of students in the Sierra Nevada foothills community of Grass Valley. Early in her tenure as the school’s administrator she pursued her Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership at Brandman University. Her experience in the program, which has a central focus on transformational change, motivated her to take steps to improve her school culture. Find out what strategies she used to achieve this goal and how she inspired other educational leaders to implement them at their schools.

Creating a Mission and Vision for Changing School Culture

Early in her leadership journey Besler identified her core mission which was to create a “shared identity for all members of the Bear River High School community” by connecting, supporting, celebrating and challenging all students and staff.

The next step in the tranformation process was to involve her staff in creating a long-term vision for change. Through ongoing open discussion they determined that this vision centered on, “creating a school where no one ever wants to leave.” This phrase is borrowed from Phil Boyte, a national leader in school culture-building and creator of the Link Crew and Breaking Down the Walls programs for student growth and engagement. Boyte identified that a positive and sustainable school culture is grounded in the relationships that exist between the adults on campus. Principal Besler was also influenced by the work of Mark Crowley, author of Lead from the Heart: Transformational Leadership for the 21st Century, who notes that employees want meaning, happiness and significance from their work.

With this in mind, Besler and her team placed a great deal of emphasis on supporting staff, with the belief that if the adults in a school are happy and engaged then everything else will follow. This led to emarking on initiatives big and small, including transforming the staff lounge over the summer to include recreational equipment like a dart board, coffee bar and more. Another example Besler shared was a “Thankful Thursday” celebration where a cart of pastries, coffee and juice was rolled around campus to treat every single adult. As a result, “some of them were nearly moved to tears by this simple gesture of appreciation,” she says.

Inspiring a Movement: “Lawn Chair Fridays”

Lawn Chair Fridays

Making connections at Bear River High School on Lawn Chair Friday. Photo courtesy of Amy Besler.

Another strategy Besler created for connecting her staff was called “Lawn Chair Fridays.” As the name suggests, at the end of each week staff members bring their lawn chairs out to the quad at lunch and spend some time socializing together.

“Not only is this a great way to connect and celebrate the week, but it also allows us to model the things we want our students to emulate, including engaging with their community and getting to know others who have different backgrounds and interest,” she explains. “Sometimes students pull up their chairs and join us, too!” she adds.

Amy Besler proudly mentions that Phil Boyte now shares her concept of “Lawn Chair Friday’s” with other communities as he travels throughout the United States and Canada speaking to students and staff about the importance of creating a positive school culture.

In a recent email exchange between the two, Boyte stated, “If you knew how many schools are using the idea you would be thrilled. Thousand Oaks High School in Southern California used it this week along with a number of the Sacramento area schools. Thanks for the ideas that are moving around the country!”

The concept has created such a buzz that she even received encouraging feedback from a student she had 15 years prior, who is now a teacher at Whitney High School in Cerritos, California. She told Besler that when Boyte spoke about “Lawn Chair Fridays” to her school’s staff, she was delighted to proclaim to her colleagues that she has a personal connection with the creator.

The key takeaway here is best stated by principal Besler herself, “In many ways, it seems the best ideas are the simplest ones.” She is thrilled that “Lawn Chair Fridays” have caught on and is inspired to work with her team to develop other ideas for changing school culture that will benefit her own school community and beyond. “Who knows? Maybe someone reading this article will start a lawn chair gathering of her own, or be inspired to create something even better that I can learn about and implement in my school community.”

 

This article is based on a narrative written by Amy Besler