BMD: Learning What Not to Do From the Leadership of the Washington Redskins

[Khlav Kalash]

Stumble across this article from Business Management Daily:

http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/articles/20706/1/Learning-What-Not-to-Do-From-the-Leadership-of-the-Washington-Redskins/Page1.html#

There’s an old, old phrase that, “A fish rots from the head down.” It dates in English from at least 1674 and has probably hung around all these years because it’s true. The Washington Redskins are one of the latest example of the truth of this aphorism.

Since the NFL season began, I’ve thought of writing a post on what can be learned about how not to lead an organization from analyzing the Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder. After Sunday’s 14 – 6 loss to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs that included a safety in the closing minutes, the time finally seems right. After all, the Redskins have lost to the 1 and 22 Detroit Lions and haven’t beaten a team this year with a winning record. As the Washington Post has reported, the team sues its fans who have fallen on hard times and can’t honor their ticket contracts. They have one of the most bloated payrolls in the NFL and week by week, publicly humiliate their head coach Jim Zorn (a classic example of what I refer to as an NGB – “nice guy, but…”) by removing one more aspect of his duties. (This week it was play calling.)

Seriously, if we can’t learn something about how not to lead an organization from watching Dan Snyder then it’s probably time to move onto another topic. What are his secrets for leading a rotten organization? Here are a few that catch my attention:

Live in the past: The Redskins haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1992 and have made the playoffs only three times in the 10 years that Snyder has owned the team. And yet, they act as if they’re perennial contenders for the Super Bowl. The first step in dealing with reality is to live in it...

Click on the link to read the rest of the article.

Not that it really says anything startlingly new or different, but it just goes to show that the once proud Redskins have sunk beyond just being the butt of national media jokes; now they being used as a cautionary example. (In case you have never heard of Business Management Daily, which I hadn't, it is, "a free news web site of the National Institute of Business Management, providing sound news and advice since 1937.")

[ttr77]

I'm just waiting for a write up in 'Customer Service Weekly'.