The Madness of March

As a basketball fan, the two best days of the year for me are the first Thursday and Friday of the college basketball tournament. Of course, as a CPA, I don't get to spend two days in the local sports bar watching all the basketball that is humanly possible. Thinking about basketball reminds me of the greatest sports movies of all time, "Hoosiers", and how the fundamentals taught in the movie can apply to networking.

The movie tells the story of Hickory High's basketball team's improbable rise to the Indiana state basketball championship. It is based loosely on the real story of the 1954 Milan High basketball championship. This small school of less than 100 students beat all the big schools to win the state title. In the movie, Hickory gives Coach Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman) a second chance to coach after losing a college coaching job due to punching a player. Coach Dale came in to the small town of Hickory using his methods of coaching. His methods changed the philosophy of the team. The first practice consisted of passing drills ("how many passes before you shoot, ...FOUR!"), dribbling drills, running wind sprints, suicide runs, and stairs, but no shooting. His focus was on team, on the fundamentals, doing the little things, that produced success. His methods were brash, rough, and against everything the little town was used to. After struggling as everyone learned the fundamentals, in true Hollywood, and in this case, Indiana basketball tradition, the little school beat the big school to win the title.

Fundamentals, the little things, and teamwork brought success to Hickory and are the foundations for quality referral relationships. Even in busy “madness” times, professionals have to stick to their networking fundamentals (attend their regular networking group meetings, prepare strong introductions for all occasions, listen for referral opportunities). We also must do those little things (thanking referral sources, doing personal meetings with our referral partners). Finally, as always, we must follow-up and follow through with our referral partners. Madness times or not, failure to follow up and follow through will cause much more harm than good.

No matter your situation as a professional, no matter your “madness”, we must all strive to make our shots, and make our FOUR passes (do our fundamentals) to become champions of the referral process.