Bay Street advises Leafs coach: stop berating your players in public

Berating your employees in public isn’t an effective management strategy. Who’da thunk it? Well, local corporate management gurus, apparently. After Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Ron Wilson publicly chastised his squad for dropping a crucial 4-3 overtime decision to the highly beatable New York Islanders on Tuesday night, the Star polled some of the city’s management experts for their take on the fiery bench boss’s behavior. The consensus: anger and shame don’t get results.

From the Star:

After all, management experts say, there’s no clear advantage for a leader who unleashes a public shaming—even in the unique world of sports, where teams perform and are judged by an audience.

“Ron Wilson’s temper can sometimes get the best of him, and he gives a response that, 10 seconds later, he knows he shouldn’t have given,” said John Oesch, behaviourist at the Rotman School of Management.

On the heels of a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Islanders, Wilson said “the top two lines weren’t generating anything” and that “we’re lucky we got it to overtime.”

Fans might love to see a coach blow up after a frustrating loss, but Oesch suggested criticism should come in the privacy of the locker room—and above all, it should be constructive and specific.

But what if the tables were turned, and big, bad corporate executives took their management cues from sports coaches? Perhaps a little yelling, a little public humiliation, a little more stick and a lot less carrot would do the financial sector some good. Heck, maybe if sports coaches replaced management experts the whole financial crisis could have been avoided. Just imagine it: suits doing burpees, secretaries yelled at on FAN590, and managers made to sit in the corner for taking on too much risk.

At the very least, TSN could compile a top 10 corporate rants montage (just like this one).

• Message to Ron Wilson: Don’t publicly shame your players [Toronto Star]