In Defense of Disco Dan

Watch this clip.  It's from early in the 2010-11 season.  Dan Bylsma is wearing a microphone at a Pittsburgh Penguins practice.

Fast-forward to the 3:12 mark.   Kris Letang, at age 23, is starting to be mentioned as one of hockey's best defensemen for the first time in his NHL career.   Bylsma sees something he doesn't like from Letang during a routine, hum-drum practice drill.

He pulls Letang aside and offers correction.

I doubt Bylsma remembers this incident.  I doubt Letang remembers it.   I only remember it because I was new to management at that time in my life and because I remember watching that particular episode of Inside Penguins Hockey and thinking, "Wow--that's really good management.  I'd like to be able to manage people the way Bylsma just did."

Management that offers correction not by screaming and yelling and dressing down and denigrating and saying:  "You, as a human being, are not good enough."  

Management that maintains the highest of expectations by offering correction by saying, "Because of who you are and the talents you have, this is how you should play.   Because you have these talents, that play wasn't acceptable.  So, here, let me show you.  Make this play instead--because that's who you are and what you're capable of doing."

Management that is firm about maintaining the highest of expectations at all times.

In twenty seconds, Bylsma turns a young player's mistake in practice into affirmation of a young player's talents.  Turns a negative into a positive.

You want to know why Disco's stars spoke up for him?   You want to know why the Penguins were willing to extend his contract after yet another playoff disappointment?

If you're going to make mistakes and get corrected (because every hockey player on the planet will screw up at some point), do you want it to be done in a way that treats you like a human being, or one that treats you as less than human?

Come on.   The millionaire players want to be treated with respect, just like every other human on the planet.

Because when you have a coach who can offer actual, firm correction while BUILDING up a player, not tearing him down.   Because when you have a coach who did that, consistently enough, for players like James Neal and Kris Letang to become All-Stars under his watch.  When you have that coach, you give that coach a shot to figure out the stuff he still needs to figure out (you know, like putting those All-Stars in good position to succeed with appropriate linemates and defensive partners).

Because, whenever I watch this clip, of some humdrum drill in October 2010, I'm reminded of what good management looks like in elite organizations that want to get the best from talented employees.  And I'm struck by the fact that one little interaction between Disco and Letang is pretty much daily reality for Bylsma and all his players.

Say what you will, but correcting a player by saying, "Play to your abilities" clearly got better results--even with playoff disappointments--than what John Tortorella got from talented charges with a vastly different method, more dehumanizing method of correcting mistakes throughout his tenure in New York.

Just ask Kris Letang how much money some NHL team will pay for his services now as compared to the spring of 2010.   Just ask James Neal about that contract he signed with the Penguins last season.

And remember that those two players, once talented kids but ones who didn't produce at elite levels in the NHL, had a head coach in Dan Bylsma who offered enough affirming correction that those two kids are now highly productive--albeit far-more-expensive--NHL players.