Just this past May, as a CPA exiting busy season, inevitable reflection ensues regarding the  past year.  We fortunate few CPAs truly work nine months in preparation for three months every year. Either irony, fate, or pure coincidence led to ESPN’s 30 for 30 series premiering their documentary “One and Not Done” covering the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program. Despite your feelings or biases towards the leader of basketball in the Bluegrass State, there are some considerable lessons to be learned in being an engaging leader from the school’s coach John Calipari.  

Brief background, super quickly:

• John Calipari fought through the assistant coaching ranks to become the head coach at UMass at the age of 29. After the program came to prominence in the mid-90s and reached a Final Four in 1996, they were hit with NCAA violations for their star Marcus Camby accepting prohibited benefits (compensation for college athletes not opined on here). Calipari left for a fat NBA contract with the then New Jersey Nets.
• Calipari learned that yelling and screaming while trying to be his players’ best friend works for college kids looking for that type of coaching relationship. However, it is not the desired dynamic for NBA professionals, and he was fired 20 games into his third season.  
• After an assistant gig with the Philadelphia 76ers, John Calipari went to the University of Memphis in his return to college coaching. He found success but, again, left immediately after the NCAA questioned a test score of a star player, Derrick Rose.  
• Calipari’s departure from Memphis took him just one state north to one of the most historic programs in the country, the University of Kentucky. He has been to multiple Final Fours, won a national championship, and, while at Kentucky, he has coached 24 first round draft picks and sent 33 players overall to the NBA.

I’ve never had the opportunity to speak with Coach Cal, but I would not hesitate to editorialize and state that the last accomplishment would give him the most pride.  He achieved early success, some failures and embarrassments, but kept one guiding principle the entire way being: Care about my people’s goals, align them with the group’s goals, and do everything possible to help my people achieve their goals.  

This seems to be a simple philosophy, but too many times do the organization’s goals move past those of its individuals carrying them out.  But how enduring is that proposition? What do the organization’s goals matter if not to breed success for all of its constituency and how long will that constituency stick around if not experiencing personal success? This documentary re-challenged me to keep the goals of my staff, seniors, and colleagues at the forefront of my dealings.  Their personal successes will lead to our team finding victory on a job because the goals are aligned.  

Like many firms, we have already completed our initial processes to budget and plan for busy season 2018.  There is no time to wait to know what the goals are of your people. Take your staff out to lunch, have team meetings so everyone can communicate their goals to the team, and learn about your people on a personal level.  Finally, put all the effort you can into caring about these aspirations, because personal achievement will be the driver to your team’s success.