Former Texas A&M baseball coach, Jim Schlossnagle, made one of the worst leadership and communication errors I’ve seen in modern sports, and I think we can all learn from this.

Sometimes it's helpful to learn from others' actions on what to do. In this instance, however, it's more insightful to learn what not to do.

After a crushing defeat in the National Championship game, he was asked at the subsequent press conference about potentially filling the vacant head coaching role at the University.

Here was his response:

Then just one day after leading Texas A&M to their first Men’s College World Series championship series, he takes the head coaching job at the University of Texas.

Let’s stop here.

LESSON 1: BE MINDFUL.

When under pressure and feeling emotional, it's important to pause, consider your response, and say less than necessary.

Jim was clearly disappointed with the game's outcome and was likely focused on his team, who were also upset. He should have simply stated, "I’m focused on my team right now, and I want to keep this press conference about them — their effort, how hard they worked, and the tremendous job they’ve done. I’m happy to discuss that question tomorrow.”

However, he let his emotions take over, exaggerated, lied, and consequently, damaged his reputation.

Jim was not mindful of his current state and it cost him.

LESSON 2: HOW YOU DO ONE THING, ISN’T HOW YOU DO EVERYTHING.

Then at the introductory press conference, Jim apologizes for how he answered the reporters question at the post-game press conference. He then declares, “I’m a big culture guy, I believe the way you do anything is how you do everything.”

Crazy, right!

He claims to believe in culture, and I think he intended to say the old coaching adage, “How you do one thing is how you do everything.”

Which is flat out not true. It’s not true for athletes, nor is it true for you and me.

There are people who are great employees — loyal, hardworking, and great teammates. But when they go home they are terrible spouses and parents.

I've known athletes who were excellent teammates and performed brilliantly on the field, but couldn't manage their finances and ended up broke after their professional career.

If Jim's statement holds, then his handling of the A&M situation foreshadows his conduct at Texas.

LESSON 3: LIVE YOUR CORE VALUES.

Jim then went on to define his core values: Toughness, Effort, Selfless.

I want to hone in on selfless for a second. Nothing about how Jim handled this past week reflected selflessness.

The greatness of an organization lies in the consistent application of its core values. When people exhibit the behaviors associated with your core values.

As a coach once said, "Your actions speak so loud I can't hear what you are saying." These words can be quite convicting.

Despite recent events, I wish Jim the best in his career and hope he learns from his public failure this week. Remember, we all make mistakes, but the wise learn from the mistakes of others to avoid repeating them.

I'm taking a short break and will return the week of July 8th. But, before I leave, I have a question for you. Did you find this helpful? Would you like me to share more of my thoughts on leadership and self-leadership?

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