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New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Lisa Bluder believes culture is bigger than one person. Coaching Caitlin Clark didn't change that
Editor's note: This story is a part of Peak, The Athletic's desk covering leadership, personal development and success through the lens of sports. Follow Peak here. To Lisa Bluder, even the best performers have room for improvement. It's why, when she recruited Caitlin Clark, she didn't highlight Clark's strengths but instead pointed out her weaknesses. Advertisement Bluder, the longtime basketball coach at the University of Iowa, helped mold Clark from an intense, young recruit into one of the most impactful athletes of her generation. Bluder retired in May 2024 as the winningest coach in Big Ten history, following four years in the spotlight as Clark's head coach. Together, they grew. And so did Iowa's team. Bluder believes all of it was special, but she doesn't deny how much work it took to navigate the unique situation. I wanted to talk to Bluder to understand more about that. How does a leader handle a truly elite performer and maintain a program-wide culture? In sports, or in the workforce, sometimes leaders are given a very rare, talented person to work with. They are tasked with not only guiding them but with making them even better. You have experience with this, obviously, with Caitlin Clark. How do you approach that situation? When you recruit a star into your organization or into your team, you have to communicate with them beforehand that they're not at their peak. You want them to want to get better. And Caitlin always wanted to get better. So what we did, first of all, was identify her weaknesses, not her strengths. She knew what her strengths were. We all knew what her strengths were. But you identify and find what the weaknesses are. And so we could kind of chip away at those and make those better. That's how you make a person or an athlete better. Not just incorporating their strengths into your system, but also helping them develop their weaknesses. What did that process actually look like? During the recruiting process we talked about our player development. Because we had proved that we could develop players like Megan Gustafson. She came in and was ranked around 100th in the country and left as the Naismith National Player of the Year. So we had that. You know, proof is in the pudding, as they say. Advertisement But what we did then when she came here was, we would show her film. We would meet with her and kind of show how her improvements in those areas could really help not only her success, but the team's success. I remember you've said before that Caitlin was the right person for you and you were the right person for her. And that's why it worked. Can you explain that? If a person doesn't want to get better, if they think they know it all already, those are the people that I didn't want to coach. I want people who are confident but also who are willing to learn and willing to hear constructive criticism. We talked a lot with our team about how holding people accountable is the same thing as accepting criticism. I'm talking more about peer to peer now, athlete to athlete. So we talked a lot to our athletes about that. You have to learn how to accept somebody holding you accountable because that's the only way you're going to get better and our team is going to get better. If you don't accept it, you're going to quit getting that feedback and you're not going to reach your full potential. Caitlin wanted to be her best. She wanted to be coached, as well as any of the really good players that I've been around. Every one of them, they weren't know-it-alls. They knew they could get better and continued to get better. Are they willing to put in the work required to be great? Because there are a lot of people who want to be great without really working hard at it, especially in today's society. Caitlin Clark didn't start out by shooting logo threes. She started out by shooting layups. And people have to remember that. It's a process. And so I want that work ethic, but I also want a positive attitude in my players. I think having that person in your huddle who's always negative, it just wears on people. And so having a positive attitude was really important to me. Advertisement I can see where it could become tricky, when there is someone in the spotlight as much as Caitlin was, but at the end of the day, you are a team. How would you advise someone on navigating that kind of situation? When there is someone who receives a ton of attention but you have a full team of great people and great players? You can't ignore it. If you ignore it, you're in trouble. We would tell our team a lot: 'Hey, when Caitlin's light shines, it shines on all of us. We all reap the benefits from that. So instead of being jealous about it, let's enjoy it.' It was getting the rest of the team to buy into that. On any good team, you give up your own personal agenda for the betterment of the team, and they were able to do that because they understood that Caitlin was bringing us to new levels. And instead of hampering that, they encouraged it because they wanted to go to those new levels with her. Did they always encourage it from the start? Or were there challenges to get there? Oh, it was a challenge at first. Like her freshman year, Caitlin didn't really understand how to work with other people as much because she was always the show. She could do it by herself. But when you get to a Power Four conference and you're competing at the highest level, you realize, 'Oh, I can't do this all by myself.' So it was a realization that she needed her team as well as they needed her. Building that trust was really important early on. But there were a couple of players who transferred after her freshman year because she was hard at first. She learned how to develop her leadership skills. She learned how to become more inclusive. And some people, she rubbed wrong and they left, and that's OK. She got better, but I also wanted people who wanted to be challenged and wanted to be their best. Again, giving up your own personal stuff sometimes is really, really hard. How did you help her develop those leadership skills after her freshman year? Well, we started meeting weekly and having leadership meetings. I would have her read some leadership books and we would kind of go through the chapters and talk about them afterwards: 'What did you learn from this?' And then we would bring in sports psychologists to work with our team so that she understood. I would have them meet with her individually and then meet with the team. Some of those things helped with her leadership. We would show her a video of herself. I mean, Caitlin is very passionate. She's not the only person I've done this with. I've had other players whose bench decorum or their reaction affects the team in a negative way. You have to show it to them because they don't understand. They don't know it. They're living it. They're so into the moment that they don't understand how they're affecting other people. And showing real-life examples away from the court, and after the emotion is over, is a good thing. Advertisement Can you explain how that progress she made then impacted everything else? She then understood that she had to trust her teammates and build relationships with her teammates, and so that completely changed. Then I think her on-court body language got a lot better. It was give and take, too. She is expressive, and you can't take it personally when she is expressive. She is very passionate. So I feel like that just evolved and it became something our team almost got protective of with her. If the opposing team was trying to impose their will upon her, so to speak, or fans were yelling things, our team got really protective of her. I think that really is a culture builder, right? When you have people who are looking out for each other. But I also think sometimes people think culture is … I don't know, people think, 'Oh, we got Caitlin, so we got a good culture.' No, we had a good culture, and that's one of the reasons we got Caitlin. So it's a work in progress all the time. Because you have to reestablish that culture every single year. You can't just assume it's going to happen again. Some people say, 'How did you get such a good culture on your team?' Well, it's not a slogan you slap on the wall. It's a continual effort every single time you're together. That's how culture is built. I remember you said that you read Phil Jackson's book 'Sacred Hoops.' Because you thought his experience with Michael Jordan had some similarities to your own. Did you end up applying anything to your own life from that? Yeah, I read that book a long time ago and quite honestly my husband said when Caitlin was a freshman or sophomore, he said, 'You need to reread that book. Because of Michael Jordan.' And I said, 'You're right.' So I read it and I highlighted parts and shared those with Caitlin. On road trips and stuff when you have a little more downtime, I would meet with her and maybe have her read a portion of that book and see what Michael Jordan was doing. All those little things that you do add up, I think. Looking back at this whole experience and your career, what do you think is most important for someone to know when they're leading a group of people? As a leader, you have to decide what you want your product to look like. You have to decide what you want your team to look like or your company to look like. You have to have that vision of what it is you want it to be first. And then you've got to find the right people to fulfill that vision. But you also have to be able to be an effective communicator. You can explain what that vision looks like to them and, through communicating, get them to buy in. To me, that's what a really good leader needs to be able to do. (Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic; Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
Yahoo
12-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Humility is the winning formula
In this file photo, head coach Lisa Bluder of the Iowa Hawkeyes signs autographs for fans after the game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Welsh-Ryan Arena on Jan. 31, 2024 in Evanston, Illinois. (Photo by) When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.' — PROVERBS 11:2 The teachers tying one on in the booth next to us were working up to Friday on a Thursday at Red's in North Liberty. They howled and screeched. I could barely hear son Kieran and his wife Holly across the table. Kieran pointed out that it was attracting attention from another table. With my Hawkeye Bar Vision glasses on I could see that none other than retired Coach Lisa Bluder was seated there. Holy Herky, she is my hero. Star at Linn-Mar and UNI, coach at St. Ambrose, Drake and Iowa. Bluder helped make women's hoops a national attraction while barely leaving the farm. So I walked past her table and told her so. That is the greatest thing about living in Iowa. You can do that at Red's. You do not do that if you see Rick Pitino or John Calipari. But heck, Lisa Bluder seems so nice on TV I am sure she won't mind if I tell her that I love her. She didn't seem to. Her husband Dave stood up and shook my hand. Wow. Ever the Iowan, Coach Bluder asked what I was doing in Iowa City. I told her I was seeing a doctor about some heart plumbing set for Feb. 19. A look came over her face and she expressed genuine concern, as anyone from Marion, Iowa, would. Humility. She has it in spades. She puts others above herself. That's why she is regarded up there with Maury John in my mind. He was Iowa's hero when Drake took on UCLA in the Final Four. I urged her to run for governor. Everyone loves her and would vote for her. She could bring the state together. She laughed but was ever polite, as Fighting Bees from St. Ambrose are off-court. She worked with all races and persuasions. It didn't matter that this was Iowa, we could expect to be the best. You can have fun and be civil while shooting your way to the top. And when some gomer fan from Storm Lake interrupts your Thursday night, you entertain him. You don't win by demeaning others. She did not get dragged in to trash talk. Not one to get whistled for a T. You lose when you gloat. Bluder would spend about an hour celebrating after a win before working up her next game plan. She could manage a phenomenon like Caitlin Clark without anyone noticing. We could use more leadership like that in Iowa. Genuine. If Tommy Tuberville can be a U.S. senator, well … I can dream. Sometimes it can be a dream. Iowa normally is miserable in February. I am scared to death about someone shoving a stent up my arteries. There is Lisa Bluder to pop up and make me think I might be somebody. It's how Iowa can be. Should be. There was a guy standing on the shoulder of the road at Marengo with a cardboard sign that read: 'Go home, illegals.' Where does that come from? How did a Mexican ever put that guy down? What is so wrong with Iowa that would make him stand out there in the wind? What is right with Iowa is that we can be so unassuming. It lifts you up as you leave the hospital parking ramp for home, and there the protester invades the windshield view. It's such a pretty place, even on a brown winter day, the surgeon has a sure hand, and Lisa Bluder is cheering us on. It makes you love Iowa even when you might want to hate it. It's not the heat, it's the humility. Marengo still could use some help. The folks at the Chelsea bar, with the only public restroom around, were priceless. As long as we can somehow stay grounded, we will survive. Art Cullen is editor of the Storm Lake Times Pilot, where this column first appeared, as well as Art Cullen's Notebook on Substack. It is republished here as part of the Iowa Writers' Collaborative. Editor's note: Please consider subscribing to the collaborative and its member writers to support their work.
