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 It is 1996, and Michael Jordan has retired from the Chicago Bulls Professional Basketball Team to pursue a career in professional baseball. Other than Jordan, the same championship team remains intact and is highly motivated to achieve great results, even without Michael. Coach Phil Jackson understands that Scottie Pippen has lived in Jordan's shadow for the past several, highly successful years. He also realizes that Scottie is especially eager to prove his worth to his coach, the fans, and the team.
On this night, however, the Bulls are losing by one point with five seconds left to play in the game. Phil Jackson calls time out and draws up a play on his clipboard. The play sets up Pippen to act as the decoy - Tony Kucoch will take the final shot. Just as the team is about to take the floor to run the final play, Scottie Pippen sits down and refuses to go back into the game. Phil Jackson is surprised. It is highly unusual for Scottie to be so upset. But, with no time to waste and no time to discuss it, Jackson makes a substitution for Pippen. The Bulls take the floor, Kucoch makes the shot, and the Bull's win the game. But what should Phil Jackson do about Scottie Pippen?
As he walks back into the locker room, Phil Jackson realizes that he must decide quickly how to handle the situation. Phil Jackson addresses the team briefly with the following words, "What happened tonight is troubling, the trust that we have is sacred. I leave it to the team to address this situation."
During interviews later in the week, Jackson said that he felt strongly that the team needed to iron out this issue on its own. He did not feel the need to be involved. In retrospect, it was a great decision because of three factors:
1) The team was ready to deal internally with its own issues and problems.
2) There were leaders on the team who bought into Jackson's team philosophy that were willing to speak for him.
3) The team was able and experienced at solving problems like this on its own.
For a young team, or even a maturing team, this is obviously not the leadership move to make. But, for the Bulls, even without Michael Jordan, this worked. Why? Because the team was mature, motivated, and disciplined enough to deal with its own problems.
Reports from those who were in the locker room said that many on the team were very upset by Scottie Pippen's antics. Luke Longley, the power forward, shed tears of frustration in the shower at the team's lack of unity. It is hard to know exactly what went on or who said what, but the point is that there are times when you, as the leader, need to walk away.
As a leader, how do you know when to walk away? Just ask yourself the simple question: Is the team ready, willing, and able to take this situation on itself? If so, tell them that they are in charge of the outcome, and then check back later to see how it all turned out. Chances are that the team will handle it better, and more forcefully than you would have. Again, don't try this with a young team, but with a team of winners - there is nothing more powerful that letting the team lead itself out of trouble.
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