Passing The Baton: The Butler Story
Passing the Baton features a series of “letters” sent from Terry Corman, outgoing CEO of Firehouse Image Center (Indianapolis, Indiana) to his son, Ted Corman, who will be leading the business into its future. This series of communiques offers thoughtful views of a business undergoing generational transition, glimpses of the company’s history, and strong views to the realities of leadership.
For nearly twenty years your mother and I have been loyal college basketball season ticket holders.
In 2010, our team was predicted at the beginning of the season to finish sixth out of ten teams, in a mid-major league. It hardly mattered because many of the players were from small towns in Indiana, and we loved their style of basketball. The hometown crowds were small — numbering under 2,000 — and the officiating was terrible, but the players played with heart.
2010 stands out above the rest, and serves as a great lesson in leadership and motivation.
The season began, and our team played like a second-rate team in a second-tier college sports league. The wins were few, and after four losses in five games, our team suffered an awful defeat against the worst team in the league. They were beaten badly, and the five-hour ride back from Youngstown, I am told, was in total silence. That night, back in their home locker room after the silent bus ride, one of the players, a sophomore, stood on a chair in the locker room and offered up his appraisal of the team and the players.
He passionately told them that they were better than they knew. He told them they could do anything they wanted if they made the commitment. Commit now, was his call to action.
They won their next nine Horizon League games, including the league championship game which landed them a spot in the NCAA basketball championship. Then, in a near-impossible run of grit and hard-nosed basketball, they went to the Final Four, and then to the final game.
The next loss for this team was a heartbreaker against Connecticut in the final game for the NCAA National Championship.
How could such an enormous change happen? What would transform a non-descript, losing basketball team from a small university into a powerhouse that beat every major university it faced in its trip to the Final Four — and then the final game?
The truth is that the little basketball team had a lot of hidden talent. The truth is, is that they didn’t know how good they were until they fully committed themselves to being the best basketball players and the best teammates they could be.
So it is with many teams, organizations, and businesses. There is an incredible amount of hidden and untapped talent in this world. Most people are capable of so much more in life than even they know. Inspired leadership, motivated teammates, and a sense of purpose can take organizations to levels they never dreamed of.
Imagine your teammate standing on a chair in your locker room. Imagine that right now. They are saying to you, quietly, I know we just lost to Youngstown. I know they beat us bad. But get over it.
We are going to the Final Four. It can happen.
Hold on to that truth, son, and take your team to new heights. I know you will.
