Regular readers of my work know I have a passion for the importance of values-led leadership, and some might even know my 3H-Core – honesty, humility, and heart. So it’s no surprise that I got excited when I saw an interview with Steve Kerr about the connection between personal values and developing a winning culture.
Before he became the coach of this year’s US men’s Olympic basketball team, Kerr was a sharp-shooting guard on a University of Arizona team that made it to the Final Four. Then he was part of five NBA championship teams during a pro career that lasted from 1988 through 2003.
Team USA took home their fifth consecutive gold medal for men's basketball at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
— PBS News (@NewsHour) August 10, 2024
The U.S. men's national team faced off against France in the final game Saturday and won with a score of 98-87.
A tough semifinals match against Serbia almost ended their path… pic.twitter.com/E0vcsjveAY
Kerr was a leader as a player, but he’d never really thought about his philosophy of leadership until he decided to get into coaching. That’s when he spent some time with Pete Carroll, who back then was the coach of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL.
Carroll, who won two national championships as a college coach and a Super Bowl with the Seahawks, challenged Kerr to think about how he would lead his teams, which he said had nothing to do with the type of offense or defense he would use or the drills he would run in practice. He was talking about the culture he would create for those teams. Then he shared some lessons about developing and leading with values that he had learned from the legendary Bill Walsh, who won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers.
“Everything is accomplished with values,” Kerr said in summarizing Carroll’s message.
Steve Kerr offers a 3-minute masterclass on leadership and culture building.#MVPMind pic.twitter.com/evinrFmvWl
— Zach Brandon (@MVP_Mindset) July 30, 2024
Kerr identified his main four values as competitiveness, mindfulness, compassion, and joy, but the most important thing he learned from Carroll was that he had to make those values live in the organization if they were going to shape the culture in a positive way.
“What Pete taught me,” Kerr said, “is that if joy is one of your values, then there better be joy in practice and there better be joy in the building every day.”
To make that a reality as head coach of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, Kerr realized he needed to hire people with a sense of humor and who could laugh at themselves. And he needed creative staff members who could help make practice fun and lively and who would find ways to celebrate milestone moments in the lives of the players like a wedding or the birth of a child.
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“We want the players to walk into this building every day feeling the joy that comes from being in a place you want to be,” he said.
Kerr’s values have become embedded in the culture of the Warriors, and that’s contributed to the four NBA titles the franchise has won under his leadership. Those values are part of his leadership philosophy at the Olympics, as well. The talent around him still counts, of course, and that’s true for all of us. But if we don’t identify strong values and bring them to life in our organizations, we will never build winning teams.
