Craig Simpson - Leadership Lessons From Winning Organizations

Stanley Cup Champion hockey player, coach and now extremely successful CBC hockey broadcaster Craig Simpson spoke at Ivey recently about leadership lessons from winning organizations. Craig made it clear that anyone who succeeds at anything has something to teach at Ivey.

Simpson was an All-American at Michigan State and in 1985 was drafted in the first round to the Pittsburg Penguins. Simpson was on two Stanley Cup winning teams, and had the pleasure of playing with Mario Lemieux, and Wayne Gretzky during his ten years in the NHL. Simpson’s most prominent lessons revolved around team building and the elements involved in a successful team – all transferable skills in business.

When Simpson first joined the NHL, he was drafted to the Pittsburg Penguins – at the time a struggling hockey team. “At that time, the Pittsburg Penguins had a loser mentality. Veteran players didn’t want to let rookies excel in fear that they would lose their starting position,” said Simpson. When he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, the culture was different. “There were team pictures and awards in the locker room, trainers took care of the players and the facility meticulously. Pictures were a reminder of the past, but the team definitely had a direction planned for the future,” shared Simpson. The coaches included him right away and made it clear that they brought him to the team to help win a Stanley Cup. With the inclusion and acceptance came expectations and accountability – he was accountable to his new team just as they felt accountable to him.

Simpson outlined the key components of high-performing teams: highly motivated individuals committed to the team, focus, a great work ethic, passion, loyalty, integrity, honour and values. He also outlined the types of people who make up teams:

Energy Builders – These are your top salesmen. They always bring energy to your team and are constantly bringing others on board.

Energy Neutral But Efficient – These people get the job done and don’t ask for much in return. As a leader in an organization you need to spend most of your time cultivating these individuals.

Energy Drainers – These people are the problem identifiers – quick to point out what is wrong but won’t offer suggestions for how to fix it. If you’re spending too much time on these people, you need to cut them. These people can ruin your 2’s and 1’s.

Simpson stressed that in order for your team to succeed, you need each player at their own breakthrough level. You need to manage the types of people in your organization (or future organization) and ensure that they’re always at their own breakthrough level.

Simpson has experienced huge success in his career, and it was an honour to hear him speak at Ivey.

See a clip of Craig Simpsons visit here.

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