Ego

Anyone else following what's going on with the Phoenix Coyotes? I mean, if you're an NHL fan, you most likely know what's happening - but how about everyone else?

In a nutshell: Jim Balsille, and incredibly wealthy businessman (co-CEO of Research in Motion - the Blackberry empire) has been trying to buy an NHL franchise for years. He's done things the right way, the wrong way - any way possible, really, to try and get a team... and the big thin is, he wants that team to be in Canada. Meanwhile, for the last fifteen years or so, Gary Bettman (the commissioner of the NHL) has been pushing the NHL's expansion - specifically into the States. In his tenure, he's added the Anaheim Ducks, Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild and the Columbus Blue Jackets. He's also relocated the Minnesota North Stars to Dallas, the Quebec Nordiques to Denver and the Winnipeg Jets Phoenix.

There's your back story.

Now Balsille and Bettman have a bit of a history - Bettman has already blocked Balsille's attempt to buy a team when Balsille was making a bid on the Nashville Predators... and even then, he planned to move the team to Hamilton. And here's where it would appear that ego seems to be getting in the way...

Frankly, I don't know a lot about Balsille - and admittedly, we may only be getting the "pro-Balsille" slant in Canada, since he's a) Canadian, and b) trying to bring another team back (nobody in Canada has ever forgiven Bettman for moving the teams to the States). Truthfully, Balsille may be a complete dillhole for all I know.

But Bettman? Bettman's ego seems to be standing in the way of the process from occurring naturally. Yes, they need to be careful about selling franchises - given that the performance of one is a reflection of all of them, and terfore we need to ensure that every person who has $200+ million dollars can't just buy a team on a whim - but at the same time, the Coyotes are losing money every single year. And this, in my opinion, is where the ego is exposed...

Remove Balsille from the equation. The Coyotes are in such financial straits that they had to declare bankruptcy - so when someone comes in with a bid that's significantly larger than the other ones, with a business plan that projects an audience and growth equal to or better than what's being seen in Phoenix (or ost of the other expansion teams for that matter), why stop it from happening?

Well, if you're Bettman - you'd have to admit you were wrong. You'd have to acknowledge that putting a hockey team in Atlanta, Nashville, etc... was a bad idea. You'd have to expose yourself to the possibility that, despite what you've been working on for the last 15 years... may not be the right direction.

Learn from this. Learn to take yourselves and your ego, feelings, persona - out of the equation. Recognize that although some of the things you've done may have been great - you can't possibly be right all the time. AND - times/circumstances change... sometimes you have to be willing to adjust to them, or watch everything you've accomplished begin to fall apart.

Every good leader needs ego - you must have the strength of conviction to see things through the tought times and make them work, not flipping your position in moments of adversity. BUT - and here's the hard part - every great leader knows when it's time to admit you may have been wrong.

Are you good? Or great?

~Guy