About 10 or 15 years ago, I met the president of Electronics Boutique (now known as EB Games). If you know anything about that company, you’re aware that it was built up into one of the most successful video game retailers in the world. It had grown to operate thousands of locations across the world and back in ’05, EB Games was taken over by GameStop for $1.44 billion.
This was before Steiner Sports had moved into the brick-and-mortar retail side of our business and being next to a guy that had such incredible success in that realm, I knew I had to pick his brain.
“How did you do it? How did you build up so many successful stores and how do you know the good from the bad? Location? Rent? Overhead?” I asked. I wanted to know his secrets!
“Brandon, you’re over complicating it,” he immediately said, “Good manager, good store. Bad manager, bad store.”
That was it.
Such a simple statement couldn’t have been more true.
If you want to know about your company, look at the type of management you have. Success is a mirror of management. How well you perform is a reflection on how well managers are effectively utilizing their teams.
Good managers set expectations for their team and are able to establish clearly defined, achievable goals to accelerate success for their business.
Look at this sample of some of the most successful sports franchises over the past 20 years:
- New York Yankees – 5 championships, 7 World Series appearances
- Los Angeles Lakers – 5 championships, 6 NBA Finals appearances
- San Antonio Spurs – 4 championships, 5 NBA Finals appearances
- New England Patriots – 3 championships, 6 Super Bowl appearances
What do they all have in common? You guessed it, good management! Think of all the names of coaches and executives: Torre, Cashman, Jackson, Buss, Popovich, Belichick, Kraft…
Whether your business is doing well or struggling, you should have an understanding of what your managers are doing because winning isn’t luck. Having a successful business isn’t luck.
Do you own a business? How are your managers doing?
Do you answer to a manager? Are you effectively carrying out their directions?
Are you a manager? Are you utilizing your team as best you can?
And in the spirit of March Madness, take a look at the teams that year-after-year are still playing deep into the tournament. It's always teams with big-name, top-of-the-line coaches.
Michigan State – Tom Izzo
Syracuse – Jim Boeheim
Kansas – Bill Self
North Carolina – Roy Williams
Duke – Mike Krzyzewski
Always remember, where there is a good team, there is good management.
