"You're fired!"

I know what you are thinking - and you are wrong!  I am not writing a blog that has anything to do with the television show "The Apprentice" or any of its stars.  Nope, this post is about something completely different.

I was sitting in front of the television yesterday watching my alma mater, Purdue University, win the Old Oaken Bucket by beating our rivals from Indiana University in the last football game of the season.  The win meant that Purdue is now "bowl eligible" with a 6-6 win-loss record (unfortunately, Indiana is not "bowl eligible" since the loss gave them a 5-7 record).  It was a great win for Purdue's first year coach, Jeff Brohm.  What is even more impressive is that just last year, with almost the same group of players, Purdue finished the season with a 3-9 record.  In fact, the last time Purdue went to a bowl game was in 2013.  Basically, Purdue has had a long string of very unimpressive football teams coached by a succession of not so impressive (at least based on their win-loss records at Purdue) head football coaches.  It got me thinking - what is so special about Coach Brohm that he seems to have turned the Purdue football program around?  Okay, I know.  One season does not make a successful program, but there is hope.  Does a head football coach really mean that much?  Can a new head football coach really have that much of an impact?

Consider this point even further.  Most college football programs ended their seasons this past weekend, and just like every year at about this time, several head football coaches were fired because of their lack of success.  Some of the notable ones include the head football  coaches at Texas A&M, Tennessee, Arkansas, and Florida - pretty impressive list given the fact that most of these colleges have historically had strong, competitive football programs (Tennessee and Florida have even won multiple national championships).  Keep your eye on the sports world, there will be a succession of firings and hirings over the course of the next couple of weeks in what has become affectionately termed, the "annual college football head coaching carousel."

So back to my original question - what can all of these colleges expect from a brand new head football coach?  Will a change in head coach bring back the glory days of old for the likes of Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, and Arkansas?  Believe it or not, this particular issue has been studied fairly extensively.  And, the results of the studies that have been done will likely disappoint all of you rabid Volunteer, Gator, Aggie, and Razorback fans.  E. Scott Adler, Michael Berry, and David Doherty conducted an analysis of coaching changes from 1997 to 2010, the results of which were published in the journal, Social Science Quarterly (see the link here).  The performance (in terms of wins and losses) of football programs that replaced their head coach were compared directly with programs who retained their head coach.  Surprisingly (maybe), changing the head coach of historically poorly performing teams (think Purdue's football team last year) had little, if any, effect on the program's win-loss record.  Football programs with a little more success (think Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, and Arkansas) actually did worse after a head coaching change.  As it turns out, the results of this study have been replicated in other sports too (for a summary, see the link here), including professional football, soccer, basketball, and hockey.  Even more important (unless you love sports!), studies in the business world, where a CEO is replaced instead of the head coach, have similar results too!

So what gives?  As Josh Bersin writes in a post for Forbes magazine, it's not all about the CEO (or in our previous examples, it's not all about the head coach).  At least in the business world, a focus on leadership strategy is infinitely more important to the overall success of the organization than any one individual CEO.  Bersin offers the following best practices from his analysis of multiple organizations:

1. High-performing organizations directly link leadership strategy to business strategy.  In other words, successful organizations link their leadership development strategy with the overall mission, vision, and values of the organization.  Developing a strong team of leaders at multiple levels throughout the organization is really the key to success here.

2. High-performers develop leaders at all levels.  Again, successful organizations foster leaders at all levels through talent management, succession planning, and leadership training.  Interestingly enough, successful organizations empower their front-line leaders to make decisions that are in the best interest of the organization as a whole (this is a great example of the High Reliability Organization principle of "deference to expertise").

3. High-performers invest in leadership development.  Here, the most successful CEO's focus on developing front-line leaders.  If it's important to the CEO, it's important for the CEO's direct reports, and so on.  The CEO that is fully engaged with leadership development will build a strong group of leaders that will assure the organization's success.

Would these best practices translate to success on the football field or basketball court?  I don't know.  But they are definitely what can make or break just about any other kind of organization.  So next time you are ready to call for your favorite football team's head coach to be fired, or for that matter, the CEO at your organization, remember that leadership transitions at the top of the organization don't always work out for the best.  However, if the new CEO follows these leadership best practices, maybe he or she will be successful in taking the organization to new heights.