Leadership 101: Ross>Gase

Ross displayed the foundational, but tough to master, leadership skills that eluded Gase as Miami HC

Ross showed true leadership in his presser

The 2019 Season has received a nice dose of hope over the last couple of days.

Really! No joke.

I‘m not hung over from New Years. Well, not enough to be delusional. Even though I’m cautious to proclaim ‘Chris Grier in charge’ as the best thing since sliced bread, Steven Ross has locked in my respect for him.

Steven Ross is a billionaire, so don’t be fooled by the nice guy exterior.

You can lock in a winning bet with the pay per head sites like Ace Per Head.com that you don’t get that many zeros behind your name without having a serious ego. Ross has S.O.B in him, for sure. Having a bite and stubborn determination is the only way you can get to Ross’ financial status.

This is why Ross’ acknowledgment of failings and the humility (mixed with pragmatism) to change his mode of operation should bring Phins Fans hope… if not be commended.

You can check out the conference if you missed it here.

A quick hit of Ross’ quotes via paraphrase (I’m not a stenographer):

‘We’ve succeed in every aspect except on the field and “I take total responsibility”.
‘We are no further along since I first took over the team’.
‘The tinker (retool) philosophy is a failure and repeating over and over is insane’.
‘Phins are rebuilding’.
‘I’m having nothing to do with football decisions’.

Real leaders take ownership of the situation, especially when the hour is most dire

Adam Gase stood strong in 2016 when things were ugly. He earned my respect for turning things around and taking responsibility. But, in 2017, when Gase bent his credo of competition to stick Culter in the starting role without opposition, I began my ‘exit stage right’ of his bandwagon.

Over time, Gase increasingly pushed the failures of the players to the forefront and sent his own responsibility deep into the background. Also, Gase never made any real changes to an obviously problematic system. Ohh, he cut players, but HE wouldn’t at least even consider handing over play-calling duties. Then there were Gase’s habit of having Teflon ‘favs’: Bushrod, Tannehill, Thomas, and Cutler.

“Murder your little darling”

A former best selling author gave me some advice (over and over for years as I’m stbborn), “Murder your little darling, Mike”. Take it easy, this was in reference to writing… not a human darling. The gist of this wisdom is if you want to get better at something, nothing can be so sacred that it’s beyond being adjusted, fixed, or removed.

This wisdom took years to sink in, pride and love can morph into blind foolishness. Leaders and creators must be pragmatic and willing the change themselves first and foremost.

Those who refuse this advice will wither… and those who heed it will grow. Steven Ross has grown as an Owner… and Adam Gase has withered as a coach.

Change is never easy, but it’s essential for growth

You could see the way Ross became uncomfortable when talking about firing Gase. Ross really liked him… But Ross did what was best for the team. Ross ‘murdered his little darling‘ by parting ways with his friend Tannenbaum, his ‘fav’ Gase, and turning over control over to a ‘football guy’.

The system is now a tried and true formula

The biggest change I’m fixated on is Ross relieving himself of control over football operations. For a man who has spent billions on this team and who obviously likes to have the option of control, this was an impressive about-face. It was a much needed and long overdue action and was the primary knock against Ross as an owner.

Now these failings are in the past… fingers crossed.

As I said, my feeling on Chris Grier is a mixed bag. I have both reservations and hope for him. Maybe he’s the right guy and maybe not. Either way, this journey has begun with the right map… and it’s been a while since we fans could say that.

The right philosophy doesn’t produce the right results every single tim, but ultimately, it’s the only way to find victory. Go Phins!!!