How Much do You Want it? Some Lessons from the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan

“Hold on my heart, please tell her to be patient, ´cause there has never been a time that I wanted something more”, Hold on my Heart, GENESIS.

In my meetings with partners across the region I like to ask them what is their vision of their firms looking forward. The vast majority reply that they want their firm to be among the best in their markets in the areas that they practice. Being a leader seems to be a reasonable and necessary expectation for a good lawyer. But off course that does not come easy. To be a leader in any discipline or market requires many individual and collective skills, and a set of conditions that would make that a feasible goal. Probably one of the first conditions to achieve that challenging objective is to know how much do you want it, and if you are willing to do what it takes to get there. Unfortunately, many partners and firms do not seem to tie those ends in a clear and articulate way.

In the second chapter of his book True Professionalism, David Maister asks the question, “Are you having fun yet?”, which brings the issue of motivation of professionals. Maister indicates that only a minority (20 to 25%) of professionals really enjoy what they are doing and with which clients they are working, which looks like a rather small percentage. Motivation is always a vital component of success but in some activities it becomes even more relevant, such as professionals (like lawyers, accountants, etc.), artists and sportsmen. Without a very strong motivation it is difficult to excel above others. The reason for that is a combination of two factors: (1) the need of a specialized craftsmanship, in which excellence is defined by the particular way you do your job or discipline, and (2) a competitive environment, where a market will decide which are the best in their respective fields. Competition creates the requirement to be better and better all the time in your expertise because others will take your position if you don’t.

I found fascinating the story of the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan in the late 80´ and 90´ to become the strongest team with the best player in the history of the NBA, an incredibly competitive sport. Although basketball has enormous differences with the legal profession I couldn’t help in finding interesting similarities and lessons for our industry in Latam. My superficial view of the Bulls before watching the Netflix series “The Last Dance” was that what made them so good was to have the greatest player ever: Michael Jordan. But the story inside shows a lot more: a relentless and unbreakable drive for success and glory, and a distinctive ability to adapt their strategy and leadership to the circumstances to achieve that goal. Let me point out a few examples that describe this evolution:

1. Strategy and Leadership. The replacement of the coach and the beginning of the era of Phil Jackson not only brought what was probably the best coach in this sport but also a substantial change of strategy. Until then, everything moved around Michael Jordan, but Jackson implemented The Triangle strategy (created by Tex Winter, the assistant coach) which required a much more sophisticated team dynamic where Michael Jordan would lose some individual relevance. Because of this scheme, other players started to excel, like Scottie Pippen. One of highlights of this process was how Michael Jordan understood this change of plans as a requirement to achieve the higher goal of winning the national championship and how he adapted to a new role embedded in a team functioning.
2. Drive and Discipline. The second landmark was their reaction after losing for the second time against the Detroit Pistols in the Eastern conference finals. They started training again immediately after the game and did not take any vacations. Jordan started to focus on his leadership of the team “My energy started to gear towards my teammates and pushing them to excel. I said ‘we are not going to be runners-up, we are going to be the champions’”. He demanded almost perfection, but he was the first one to make the effort. He transmitted to his team the drive to be the best every single day. This hunger for glory ignited the team and enabled them to achieve high levels of performance and effort. The following year they beat the Detroit Pistols.
3. Leadership and Innovation. The third landmark happened in the finals with the LA Lakers (the strongest team in those days, with Magic Johnson) when they won the first national championship. In the final game they were tied 80/80, and everybody expected Jordan to be the savior of the match; but he was heavily blocked by the other team players. So they decided to change the strategy and Jordan passed the ball to Paxton so he would be the one to score. That disarticulated the defense strategy of the Lakers and the Bulls won the match and the championship. In this instance, they showed the capacity to innovate and take risks. Leadership was shared with other members that were not Jordan, and the team achieved a higher level of excellence, outperforming the Lakers.

What the history of the Bulls shows is that having the best individuals is not enough. You need a team that excels as a whole and a strategy that makes sense for a particular time. Also, inspiring leadership and a sense of team that was provided both by the coach and by Michael. Above all, you need a group of people with a strong desire to achieve success and passionate about what they are doing.

The story of Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan draws interesting insights for law firms. A competitive market where talented individuals with specific craftsmanship need to work as a team is a common ground of observation. Partners and law firms need to ask themselves the question of how much they really want to be leaders in their markets and then define what will be needed to get there. Personal and collective motivation is a key ingredient in the search of excellence and success, but also the willingness to waive some personal relevance for the benefit of the common goal.