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Shaq's Lesson in Team Building | Big Think
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October 25, 2015
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You know Shaquille O'Neal the basketball player. Do you know the Shaquille O'Neal who has both an MBA and an Ed.D?
In this video, Shaq details his philosophy on team-building. As Dwight D. Eisenhower once said, "The greatest of leaders are the ones smart enough to hire people smarter than them." Just like Ike, Shaq knows that it's vital for a leader to understand that he/she is not always going to be the smartest person in the room. And that's okay. The best leaders are not afraid of deferring to their teammates. The best leaders are the ones who are most successful and facilitating planning sessions. A good leader takes advantage of everyone's intelligence; not just their own.
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SHAQUILLE O'NEAL:
Shaquille O'Neal is a retired American professional basketball player who is currently an analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Standing 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, Shaq was one of the most dominant centers in the league throughout his 19-year NBA career. O'Neal holds both an MBA and an Ed.D. in Human Resource Development.
Following his career at Louisiana State University, O'Neal was drafted by the Orlando Magic with the first overall pick in the 1992 NBA draft. He quickly became one of the best centers in the league, winning Rookie of the Year in 1992–93 and later leading his team to the 1995 NBA Finals. After four years with the Magic, O'Neal signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers. They won three consecutive championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. He was traded to the Miami Heat in 2004; his fourth NBA championship followed in 2006. O'Neal also played for the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics before retiring.
O'Neal's individual accolades include the 1999–2000 MVP award, the 1992–93 NBA Rookie of the Year award, 15 All-Star game selections, three All-Star Game MVP awards, three Finals MVP awards, two scoring titles, 14 All-NBA team selections, and three NBA All-Defensive Team selections. He is one of only three players to win NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP awards in the same year (2000); the other players are Willis Reed in 1970 and Michael Jordan in 1996and 1998. He ranks 6th all-time in points scored, 5th in field goals, 13th in rebounds, 7th in blocks, and 3rd in field goal percentage.
In addition to his basketball career, O'Neal has released four rap albums and appeared in numerous films, plus his own reality shows, Shaq's Big Challenge and Shaq Vs.
O'Neal will be eligible for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Shaquille O'Neal: Dwight Eisenhower said, "The greatest of leaders are the ones smart enough to hire people smarter than them." So that's the first thing you do. You've got to get four or five people that are smarter than you; you guys have to work together; you guys have to start from the bottom, think about all the good ideas and think about all the bad ideas. And if the good outweighs the bad, then you should go with it. If the bad outweighs the good, then you should probably think about something else. But that's always been my philosophy. And I have guys that are very intelligent, very smart work for me with my ideas, their intelligence, my intelligence. It's been working out pretty good so far.
It's not a dictatorship as a leader, but I take input from everybody. Like, "Hey I don't think we should do this," or, "Hey I think it's a good idea." So most of the time I am kind of voting without going through the voting process. So let's just say there's five of us and three says I don't think we should do it and two says we should do it, I probably won't do it. But when you're on a team you have to do everything collaboratively. And sometimes you're not going to get along and sometimes you're going to have an argument, but the respect factor is always there. And as long as you respect each other, you know, treat everyone with respect, and just listen to everybody's views, it's okay.
One of my favorite books is The One Minute Manager. So when I'm listening to my guys, first thing is I don't act like I know it all. So I hear suggestions. I put in my suggestions. We have a couple meetings and then we just iron it out and we just figure it out....
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