迈克·克日泽夫斯基,或者更常被称为K教练,他本人比电视上看的要高得多。

我想那是因为当我在纽约市中心的办公室见到杜克大学男子篮球队和美国队金牌得主篮球队的教练时,他周围并没有6英尺11英寸的超级运动员。相反,K教练和他的商业伙伴克里斯·戈尔曼坐在一起,他是powerForward的首席执行官。powerForward是一家新成立的数字订阅服务公司,将向用户提供交互式领导力和团队建设视频。

他有奖杯,奖牌和数百万人的尊敬和钦佩,那为什么要创业呢?“我不知道我还要执教多少年,但我希望我的余生都能教书,”K教练告诉我。“这个平台将允许我这样做。”

我有幸与戈尔曼和K教练谈论了他们的冒险,以及在球场上和商业上领先的相似之处。我走出房间,感觉精力充沛,充满了灵感,准备向我的对手…狠狠灌篮,只要我能在去健身房的路上找到一条长一英尺半的路。

上次我见到你,教练,你脖子上有一大块金子。

教练K:但愿如此!他们不给教练真正的奖牌,我们得到复制品——但没关系,主要是我们赢了!

powerForward是如何工作的?

教练K:这是一个公司会订阅的视频服务。来自各行各业的人——体育界、商界、军方——讲述他们是如何适应的,或者他们是如何表现出领导力的。当你观看这段20分钟的视频时,观众会被问到他们是否会做出同样的决定,是否会做出不同的决定,以及为什么。它是交互式的。所以你不仅仅是在阅读或观看——你能感觉到它。如果你感觉到了,你可能会拥有它。你就是这样变好的。

你们的合作关系是怎么形成的?

教练K:Chrissie和CAA的愿景是将这家初创公司整合在一起,这家公司已经运作了两年。他们能够帮助我理解这个愿景,因为这不是我所处的世界。就像她不理解进攻区域或全场紧逼的愿景一样。现在这是一个共同的愿景。我喜欢她和我们的团队所能做的。

克丽丝·戈尔曼:我们有一个难以置信的机会和一个有着非凡领导才能的人共事。我进来看看,看看是否有需要我们可以填补。我研究了价值100亿美元的B2B领导力市场,我们发现在关注新兴领导者方面存在差距。有谁比K教练更适合担任这个角色?

你的领导能力跨越了刚从高中毕业的运动员到经验丰富的NBA全明星运动员。这样的领导班子有什么异同?

教练K:完全不同。成熟度有很大的不同:年龄、身体和经验。所以当我在奥运会上执教美国队的时候,这些人都是专业人士,他们跨越了经验的桥梁。最快的解释就是我们互相适应。然后我们找到该团队可以适应的最佳实践。

当我在大学里指导年轻人时,他们必须适应我。我在适应职业球员方面学到的经验是难以置信的。你是如何训练的,他们是如何在某些情况下取得成功的——在过去的10年里,我从这些人身上学到了比我以前知道的更多的东西。

你最惊讶的是谁?

教练K:坦白说,几乎所有的人。在某些方面,那不是我生活的世界。在大学里,我们必须训练我们的人。这些专业人士有他们的惯例。我们作为一个群体我们作为一个群体。但我必须给他们时间,让他们按照惯例行事。

德马尔·德罗赞早上6点起床做他的常规动作,克莱·汤普森晚上回到体育馆去射击。凯尔·洛瑞是联盟中得分最高的球员之一,他来找我说:“你需要什么教练?58003 It is called selfless.

people always ask “How do you get these big egos together?” If you have a good common cause --to play for your country and win a gold medal -- that’s a pretty good common cause. Like we say in powerForward, they make a commitment to being part of something that is bigger than you.

Do you love to win or hate to lose?

教练K: Both! I would say for me, the thought of losing is a bigger motivator than the thought of winning. But the hatred of losing causes you to prepare to win. Everybody wants to win, not everybody wants to prepare to win. Youhave to love the process of preparing to achieve that goal of winning.people who are less talented can beat you if they are more together, tougherand more unselfish.

My kids play little league, and there is a mercy rule that stops better teams from running up the score too high. Are you able to take your foot off the gas during a game?

教练K: I would hope that I am faced with the opportunity in every game that I coach! A lot of people ask if I prefer a close exciting game or a blowout --as long as we’re the ones blowing out the other team, the sooner the better.

Does that competitiveness carry through in business? Do you look to crush your competition?

Gorman: In business, you have to be agile. You have to be open to someone coming in and disrupting you. You can’t rest on your laurels. It is always competitive, but in the end, it is all about your investors and your customers. You are working to make their investment of time and money worthwhile, that’s where your focus needs to be.

教练K: I think your focus should always be on yourself, being the best that you can be. Your competition shows your flaws, your weakness. I’m into beating my opponents, not crushing them. Without competition, you don’t know how people are looking to beat you. So you welcome that. To “crush” someone means that you feel like you won. But if you’re committed to excellence, it’s not about one game, you have to be there all the time. You’re never at the end, you’re always "becoming."

When you are recruiting new players for Duke, you have statistics that show how talented a player is, but are there any tells that you look for to see if you want them on your team?

教练K: We look for three things: talent, academic abilityand character. Are they easy to coach? Is it all about them or is it all about us? We give those equal weight, and if one is missing, we won’t try to recruit that player.

Do those three pillars line up with recruiting employees in business?

Gorman: Yes, particularly when it come to character. I look for people who say “we” more than “I.” When someone says “we” that means that they feel a part of something being built.

教练K: I ask every kid I’m visiting, “What are your goals?” I visited twothis weekend who said, “I want to be part of a national championship team.” And you love to hear an answer like that. If they start asking how many shots they’ll take or minutes they’ll play, that'll all shake itself out -- most likely as you are playing for another team. The “we” concept is huge for us.

Gorman: It'sfunny, as I’m building this team for powerForward, if someone’s first question is “what will the salary be?” it’s not the right fit. This is a startup, this is about building something together and about the experience. You can go somewhere else if all you’re looking for is a comfortable salary.

part of being a leader isdealing with the good and the bad. The NCAA just announced that they are pulling all championship games from North Carolina due to its controversial transgender bathroom law. 你对此有何感想?

教练K: I was asked about this law when we were preparing for the Olympics in Las Vegas. It was a very short answer: 很尴尬。 And I still feel it is embarrassing because it is discriminatory. 58003

You coached all of these guys on Team USA, and now they’re all back in the NBA. 58003

教练K:58003 I want them to be taken care of contractually. In 11 years, in the last five competitions we’ve won, we’ve coached 39 NBA players and they’ve all won gold medals. Some multiple times. I have anywhere from 16 to20 former Duke players in the NBA. I want good things to happen for them all.

On Christmas, I’ll be watching the NBA games with my grandsons and I’ll be able to say, "On the court right now, there are sixguys I’ve coached." Then the next game will have four or seven. I just want them to do well. And I keep in contact with a lot of them. Relationships are another keyword that we teach in powerForward. We want people to take these words, make them their own and be better for it.