The 2006 Leadership Excellence Summit
"Leading From the Back"
Eric Grubman
Executive Vice President
National Football League
Grubman began his presentation emphasizing what a great place the United States Naval Academy is. A graduate himself, he remarked how the USNA does a wonderful job bringing men and women of high caliber, both rich and poor, each with a different life experience, together to embrace a common goal and learn how to be great leaders.
USNA "is the ultimate melting pot in higher education," Grubman said.
"Leadership is not a label, it's not a title and it's not something bestowed on someone," he said. There are different styles of leadership for different people in different situations.
Leadership itself is impossible to define. Among other things, it's the ability to get people to do something that they wouldn't achieve without your motivation, Grubman told the crowd. As General George Patton said, "be able to make decisions." Whether you're a leader and what makes you a leader is up to you.
Subscribing to this theory, Grubman found his own style of leadership. He has held many jobs over his career, in both the public and private sectors, and this has enabled him to develop his style.
Applying this flexible definition of leadership to his company allows a style of leadership that is not often found in large organizations. After giving the audience a vivid description of NFL headquarters (among other things, televisions playing memorable points in football history and Tom Landry's famous hat), Grubman explained that his company must have a unique style of leadership because of the way that it is set up.
The NFL is made up of 32 franchises. Each franchise is owned independently but follows a general set of rules when it comes to things like practices and drafting players. Franchises are located all over the country which results in an eclectic group of owners whose opinions don't always mesh.
However, Grubman said that the owners of each franchise do have one thing in common - each is independent and confident so they don't sit idly by when vice-presidents and other people at the NFL make decisions that affect them.
The question then becomes, how do we bring all of these owners, who often have conflicting opinions, together to work out a solution that everyone can agree on? Grubman answered this by first saying what you don't do. Vice presidents and other higher-ups like him at the company cannot simply walk into a room of owners and say "follow me." They won't.
What is key to resolving this conflict is to first and foremost have a healthy respect for what the owners' wants and needs are because each has a massive investment in his or her team. Realize that each owner has a strong and relevant point of view that must be heard.
Grubman explained that it's not unheard of for one owner, whose opinion is the opposite of the rest of the owners, to change the minds of the rest after a long discussion. As long as everyone is heard, it's not as difficult as one might think to come up with a solution that pleases most of the owners. This illustrates the fact that having many people make decisions doesn't necessarily translate to an unpredictable or stagnant company.
The key to "leading from the back" is to make sure the management team in your organization can find satisfaction and pride in allowing others to make decisions. Grubman said that if your organization operates this way, there are several things to remember to keep things running smoothly. Be well prepared, give those making the decision plenty of time and sometimes you just have to let them fight in order to reach a compromise. Remember that you can be right and things still may not end up the way you envisioned. Sometimes the way forward is not always a straight path. The winning strategy may come from an unexpected source so be sure to listen to everyone. Finally, have a team that can work together.
Grubman joined the NFL executive team in 2004 and is responsible for finance and strategy there. Along with a core group of senior managers, Grubman is involved in the negotiation of major third party relationships including sponsorship, media and collective bargaining. With the Commissioner and other executives, Grubman is involved in major policy issues involving league economic and planning, such as revenue sharing and stadium finance. Additionally, he has supervisory responsibility for finance, treasury and corporate development. Prior to his NFL position, Grubman was a partner and managing director of Goldman Sachs and co-president of Constellation Energy Group.