Bengals coach shows top-notch management
Ellen Frankenberg, Ph.D.

During 2003, Cincinnati football fans have been treated to a rare display of leadership, as Marvin Lewis transformed the lackluster "bungles" into contenders for the playoffs.

As businesses search for the magic ingredients to turn lackluster "bungles" into first-place performance, they need look no farther than Paul Brown Stadium.

In Jim Collins' groundbreaking book, Good to Great, he describes the hierarchy of capabilities that he discovered within those rare business leaders who lifted their companies far above competitors, against great odds.

• Level one leaders are highly capable individuals who possess enough knowledge, talent and good work habits to perform successfully. They know the game. They know how to field a prevent defense. They know how to coach an uncertain quarterback to throw long with confidence to the right receivers.

• Level two leaders extend their own competencies so the whole team achieves more. Somehow they transform a stagnant locker room to a place where excitement is brewed, where players enjoy affirming one another, so they keep believing in victory, even when they are behind during the final minutes of the game.

• Level three leaders are not only competent team members; they also know how to organize people and resources to accomplish predetermined goals. They know how to manage "ordinary" players so they work together at a superior level. (At the pro football level, differences in talent between players may be measured in inches rather than yards. How much of the difference in performance is psychological?) Effective level three leaders coach their teams well enough so that they know how to read their competition, adapt quickly and execute plays successfully, even with limited resources.

• Level four leaders develop a clear and compelling vision that stimulates the team to high performance. Somehow these leaders discover a common language of respect to communicate with players from all backgrounds, so they focus on the same message, work harder, and practice in disciplined ways.

But the top level of leadership in Collins' research is most significant:

• Level five leaders display a paradoxical combination of both humility and professional will. The game ball goes to someone else, even the owner whom everyone else has debunked, with an attitude of gratitude. They channel ambition into the organization, not the self, and they "look out the window, not in the mirror" to assign credit. They manage defeat with dignity and victory as if they have been there before.

Although Collins does not offer the technology to clone leaders like Marvin Lewis, he does note that level five leaders, on the road to excellence, typically had to overcome tough life-altering experiences - a diagnosis of cancer, a religious conversion - or perhaps being passed over repeatedly for the job of their dreams.

How many talented players in your organization can be coached to superior performance? What will it take to generate winning team spirit? On which level do you stand now? What will it take to move to the next level? Who can you take there with you?

As the season reaches its climax this month, Sunday afternoons offer much more than the excitement of a well-played game; they offer lessons in leadership that any Monday morning quarterback can practice.

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