140 THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
Jordan’s early years with the Bulls, they had difficulty just having a
winning season.
The reason? The Bulls were a group, but not a team. The group was
dominated by one player with tremendous talents but a lack of team
orientation. There was little synergy among the players; the presence of
Jordan actually minimized the others’ potential and development. In a
‘‘crunch’’ (which was frequently) the other players knew that their main
job was to pass the ball to Jordan. If he scored, great. If he didn’t, it was
no skin off their backs.
When Phil Jackson took over as coach, he turned a mediocre group
with one great player into a championship team. He did this by ‘‘letting
themebecome the servant of thewe.’’ He encouraged Jordan to develop
his team-oriented skills (defensive play and passing) and to inspire the
other players to better performance. He made Jordan into more than
just a ‘‘star’’; he made him a leader. And with Jordan’s example, he
transformed the Bulls from a purposeless group into a team where
everyone (even a substitute who played only a few minutes a game)
had a role to play and knew the importance that role played in the
championship effort. Like Nehemiah building the wall, Jackson got the
Bulls to ‘‘work with all their hearts’’ and to perform ‘‘as one man.’’
Herb Kelleher also enlisted the power of his team when he wanted
to improve accident prevention at Southwest Airlines. Other airlines
would have formed a small task force and focused on the areas most
directly responsible for accident prevention, such as flight crew and pi-
lots. The rest of the ‘‘team’’ would have received some vague memo
about the ‘‘need for safety.’’
But Kelleher enlisted everyone in the accident prevention effort,
even if their function appeared to have little to do with safety. His
message to the entire organization was that ‘‘we’re a cross-functional
team, and the entire team will work together to empower each other
to prevent accidents.’’ He had the baggage handlers observe the pilots
in flight simulation training, and he had the pilots observe the baggage
handlers. When he was done, everyone on the team understood his or
her role and the role of everyone else on the team in improving safety
and reducing accidents. In the words of Romans 12, Kelleher had cre-