Perspectives

In his latest column for Forbes, Glen Tullman talks about the need for enlightened leadership in college sports. Read the full columnhere and an excerpt below:

“Sports have historically been a wonderful source of leadership lessons. They’ve even occasionally led the way on social issues, like racial integration – from Jackie Robinson’s baseball breakthrough to the South African rugby team’s historic world-cup victory (both celebrated in recent films) to Texas Western’s improbable 1966 NCAA basketball championship.

This is surely part of the reason that business people tend to be sports fans – we look to sports for inspiration as much as for entertainment. We appreciate that, just as with quarterly earnings reports, there is a clarity about who’s winning and losing. And we love the surprise opportunities for Cinderella stories — now an annual occurrence during March Madness.

Unfortunately sports can also be pretty uninspiring sometimes. Take the recent news that Northwestern University student-athletes want to unionize. They’re led by former football players who say the university rakes in cash – from ticket sales, TV revenue, sponsorships, etc. – while the players, all full-time students, spend 40 hours a week (at least) training, practicing and playing football. Some don’t graduate. Others suffer injuries that can nag them for life.”