Balakov

For the basketball fans in our audience, you know all about “March Madness,” those few weeks each year where the national Division I college basketball tournament is played to determine the national champion.  The term, March Madness, comes from the fact that each year unexpected and unheralded underdogs upset more powerful and highly ranked teams.

My brother, David, wrote an excellent piece, March Madness Stunner – Underdog Has Winning Strategy, that analyzes the strategy of the University of Northern Iowa who defeated the University of Kansas, the #1 ranked team.  One of the players even admitted that it would be tough for any one of them to start for Kansas!  But they stunned Kansas nevertheless.

Listening to an interview of Coach Ben Jacobsen of UNI BEFORE the game, Dave picked up 7 insights for an underdog’s winning strategy.

1. Leadership - the players care about winning and have bought into the system.  When new players are recruited, they learn from the guys who’ve been in the system.  Leadership comes from within the team.
2. Unselfishness – This shows up on the basketball floor, but also in the classroom and beyond, as these players represent the school well everyday.
3. Willingness to do the dirty work like playing defense – Many top schools recruit outstanding athletes who were able to get by on natural talent in high school.  They didn’t have to work at it.  These players on the other hand have had to practice and work and do all those little things that the more talented players never did.
4. Helping each other – They teach each other.  They make each other better. And it begins with defense which is always a team effort.
5. Sharply defined goals – They know how they are going to play and they are clear on there overall as well as game to game goals.
6. Consistent effort – Again, unlike the gifted high school player who could turn it on and off and play defense when they thought it was important, the UNI players have the ability to perform at a high level every single possession.
7. Being confident – This comes out of being clear on your goals, being trained to do what needs to be done, having belief in the system and your teammates, and knowing that you can bring a high level of play every second of the game.

Is your business an underdog?  Are you David going against Goliath? (Come to think of it, David exhibited all seven of those points above!)

If you are the owner or CEO, think about whether you’ve built such a culture in your team.

And if you are on the team, are you leading by setting the pace in all these seven points?

Note:  As of the writing of this post, UNI finally lost to a well prepared Michigan State team.  Underdog Baylor finally lost the game after holding a lead with 5:40 left in the game.  Butler has moved on the Final Four.

Dave Wooldridge writes about inspiration and insight from sports at Sports Inspired.