Jimmy goes to Miami

Butler is one of my favourite players. He is a throwback to the 90’s era of hard two-way basketball, challenging teammates and having a determination to do whatever it takes. This is why Miami’s run to the finals was so interesting.

Jimmy Butler signed for the Miami Heat last June. Many suggested he had chosen the lifestyle over the opportunity to compete for titles and that his arrival didn't catapult the Heat into title contention. The Miami Heat just reached their sixth finals in franchise history with Butler spearheading the charge – Obviously Pat Riley, Erik Spoelstra and Butler knew better.

In an era of star-laden teams (Golden State Warriors, LA Lakers and LA Clippers spring to mind), the idea that the Heat could reach the finals with Butler as the lone “star” player – and who prior to this seen as not even a top 10 player by the majority of fans – was seen as a major reach. Could it have something to do with this Heat Culture we hear so much about. Many companies have spoken about having a strong organisational culture provides a competitive advantage and this has transferred across to sport.

What is culture?

Culture is the observable behaviours that a team/organisation promote and accept. Essentially, organisational culture in layman’s terms is; ‘the way we do things around here’. Culture is what you do, not what you want to do or what you think you do.

The most common definition of organisational culture in sport is the one outlined by Schein (2010);

“A pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems”

Put simply, culture is the beliefs and actions shared by a group that have been developed over a period of time that have been proven to help new members fit in and that provide the means of overcoming obstacles that they encounter. These behaviours have been successful for an extended period of time and as such they are seen as the way of doing things.

So, what is the culture of the Miami Heat?

Pat Riley once said of basketball; “It’s win or misery” – this sums up the Heat culture – losing is not an option. This is why they leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of victory. It explains why the Heat have one of the toughest pre-season regimes in the league, very heated practices (many practices require players to wear protective gear to ensure there is no holding back) and the fact that all players must have less 10% bodyfat in order to play. For some coaches and athletes these practices may indeed be viewed as misery – However, there is a good chance that if that’s your view of misery, you won’t ever play in South Beach.

This culture has been evidenced in Miami’s performance throughout the years. Since Pat Riley came in in 1995 as president and head coach from the New York Knicks, the Heat have had only 5 losing seasons in 25 years. Compare this with the Orlando Magic, who have had the next lowest number of losing seasons in the same Southwest division as the Heat. They have had 10 losing seasons in the same time period. The idea of “tanking” for a better draft pick is not an option. There have also been 6 finals appearances and 3 titles threw in as well for good measure.

Current Head coach, Erik Spoelstra said of the players that fit the culture;

That’s part of our philosophy, part of our culture. Guys that are extremely motivated, driven, have a passion for this game, have a passion for competition, and have a willingness to fight for it. That’s our fabric.”

Within this he gives an insight into the type of player that himself, Pat Riley and the Heat organisation are seeking. If you don’t buy into this philosophy, you’re not playing for the Heat. Look at the Heat roster. Guards Kendrick Nunn and Duncan Robinson have worked their way from the G-League. Even their late lottery picks of recent drafts (remember the Heat don’t tank so they aren’t getting top draft picks), Bam Adebayo in 2017 and Tyler Herro in 2019, were only there by working their way up draft boards from projected borderline undrafted/2nd round picks at the start of their respective seasons.

Then there is Jimmy Butler.

"His story," one GM said (prior to the 2011 NBA Draft); "is one of the most remarkable I've seen in all my years of basketball. There were so many times in his life where he was set up to fail. Every time, he overcame just enormous odds. When you talk to him - and he's hesitant to talk about his life - you just have this feeling that this kid has greatness in him."

Kicked out of his home by his mother at 13, Butler bounced around friends’ houses until he was taken in by the Lambert family and was given a semblance of family life and a roof over his head. In terms of basketball trials, Butler was scouted in high school and he didn’t play AAU. He wasn’t recruited coming out of high school and enrolled at the nearby Tyler Junior College.

After a year here, was recruited to Marquette (interestingly the same alumni as Heat legend Dwyane Wade). He came off the bench his sophomore year and he didn’t even know himself he was projected to be drafted until after the season has ended. Even at this, Butler did not arrive in the NBA with fanfare, being drafted 30th by the Chicago Bulls in the 2011 NBA Draft.

It’s clear the Heat seek to recruit players that fit their philosophy of having hard working, driven and as Spoelstra said; “players who want to play for something bigger than themselves". In doing this the Heat can continue to cultivate the culture that was started by Riley and built upon by the likes of Erik Spoelstra and past players like, Dwyane and current Heat-Lifer, Udonis Haslem, who has been a part of every Heat team ever to reach a finals since he joined in 2003.

By having a clear culture, you can recruit players to suit it. The Heat’s recruitment policy is evidence of this. Several NBA teams stayed away from Butler, despite his obvious talent, due to perceived difficulties with the way he carried himself at the Timberwolves and 76ers.

The determined, challenging attitude particularly towards teammates; that Butler brought with him was nor well received in these stops. However, Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra felt that the convictions that had gotten Butler into trouble in his previous stops were exactly what they were after. Indeed, Butler said upon signing a max contract with the Heat; "One guy's trash, is another man's treasure”.

The congruency of the beliefs shared by the Heat and Butler was highlighted by Spoelstra after the Lakers had just won their 17th NBA title at the expense of the Heat;

“I think that’s what we’re all looking for, to be a part of a family…To just be yourself, you don’t have to make any apologies for who you are. We’ve been searching for (Butler) for a long time and he’s been searching for us for a while. He is a great example of what you can bring out of a franchise when you are wired for that fierce competitiveness.”

This shows how well match the Heat and Butler were in their views and also provides a glimpse of what is possible of having a strong culture that is supported by all members of a group – being greater than the sum of your parts.

If we look what current players think – Heat wing Jae Crowder was quoted when asked about Heat Culture;

"A level of professionalism, a level of fight, a level of competitiveness, a level of just being the best in-shape team, a level of nastiness ... I just feel like it definitely is real. It's a real thing. The culture is real."

Once again, the competitive nature of the Heat is mentioned – a core belief shared from the top right down to bottom. This agreement of the beliefs and expected behaviours of a culture by various members highlights the cultural alignment within the Heat organisation.

Cultural alignment is the degree to which everyone within the organisation is in agreement with and carries out the expected actions of them. Organisations that are culturally aligned, experience less disagreement, more success and less staff turnover. This alignment is visible within the Heat with various members of the front office and coaching staff being long-standing members of Heat-Nation:

· Owner Micky Arison's father, Ted, was the team's original owner when it entered the league in 1988.

· General manager Andy Elisburg has been with the franchise since 1988.

· Coach Erik Spoelstra joined the team as a video coordinator just before Riley arrived in 1995.

· Spoelstra's intern in the video room that year, Adam Simon, is now Miami's assistant general manager.

· Tim Donovan, the team's head PR man, came with Riley from New York.

· Chet Kammerer, a senior basketball adviser, has worked for the team since 1996.

Even the three longest-serving players in Heat history; Alonzo Mourning, Dywane Wade and current player, Udonis Haslem, all playing under the current regime brought in by Pat Riley post-1995.

This continued stability also ensures the cultivation of the culture as the same people remain and pass on the expectations to new members.

How have the Heat maintained this culture?

Firstly, being culturally aligned allows for low staff turnover and hence, this continued stability ensures the culture cultivation as the same people remain and pass on the expectations to new members.

However, when there is turnover, having a strong set of beliefs and behaviours and recruiting players and coaching staff who fit these behaviours – the Heat have been able to maintain their culture.

Damian Hughes, author of The Barcelona Way: How To Create A High-Performance Culture, refers to the idea of Cultural Architects; these are individuals (generally players) who best represent the values that the coaches expect and these individuals are used to drive the culture within the playing staff. They lead by example the majority of the time with Hughes saying such players; “become emblematic of what the culture represents and are able to articulate that in behavioural terms.”

Jimmy Butler has certainly has embodied that attitude this year, however the Heat have been blessed with Cultural Architects down through the years such as Dywane Wade, Udonis Haslem (still present) and again Alonzo Mourning – unsurprisingly the three individuals with the longest tenures in Miami Heat history – these three in particular have been mentioned as displaying the key values of the Heat organisation.

Of course, one of these cultural architects was key in enticing the latest cultural architect to join the franchise; “No. 3 (Wade) was like ‘This Culture fits you,'” Butler said; “It’s been great. Everybody here wants everyone to be better. To be great.”

Miami also demonstrate a Commitment Culture - there is a clear purpose; people know the answer to the organisation’s ‘why’ and have a defined set of behaviours related to the purpose. People have to make a choice to join the organisation, and they’re very clear about what the expectations are and why they are what they are.

There are four other types of culture:

1. Star – bring in your best people, pay them the most money, provide them with great resources and hope that they deliver. The evidence for these cultures shows that when it works it’s spectacular, but far more frequently the failure will be just as spectacular.

2. Autocratic – organisation is driven by one or two individuals. However if their decision-making is flawed or if they’re removed for some reason, the vacuum created can lead to dysfunction.

3. Bureaucratic – dominated by middle managers, decisions are made by policies and procedures, rules and regulations. It’s all about compromise. These cultures are quite slow moving.

4. Engineering – bring people in with technical expertise; you have people with a deep knowledge in a relatively narrow domain. What you find in this culture is that people make excuses for talent.

As we can see Miami demonstrate the commitment culture clearly with their clear set of behaviours and providing clear expectations any individuals prior to joining the team. This is opposed to Star cultures for example – something we see very often within the NBA – team signing top free agents and hoping for success, while it can pay off (2020 LA Lakers), it can implode just as easily (2012-13 LA Lakers).

Research shows that these commitment cultures tend to be about 22% more successful than any of the other cultures as it taps into the fundamental sense of belonging that human crave. (Baron & Hannan, 2002). Moreover, the same researchers found that members of these cultures stay loyal and are much more likely to remain in these organisations even when offered pay rises to move elsewhere. Which again helps explain how the Heat backroom and front office staff have remained around for so long – and continue to cultivate the culture.

Lastly, the Heat benefit from Authentic Leadership. Riley is respected from his work as a coach with the Show Time Lakers of the 1980s, guiding them to 4 titles, as well as his time with the Knicks in the 90’s He has also transitioned to a successful president, building competitive teams through his time in Miami.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra is the epitome of the Heat work ethic. Starting as part of the video staff in 1995, Spoelstra worked his way into the head coach role by 2008 and has led the Heat to two titles in 2012 and 2013.

Hughes states that in sport, a head coach has no more than a 10% impact on performance. Thus, it is vital to recruit athletes that buy into the attitudes the coach wants and hose that can transmit these while playing – hence Butler is an ideal fit in Miami. Butler's arrival in Miami was timely with Wade retiring in 2019, the Heat perhaps lacked that leader on the court (whilst Haslem can be seen as a leader, he plays very few games anymore).

"He (Pat Riley) wants to win at everything," Butler said. "He's so much like everybody on this roster and I'm sure he takes the losses just as hard as we do. You can tell that he's just as excited as we are when we win and those are the people you fight for."

As we can see Riley clearly displays the beliefs he encouraging within the Heat and as such it is easier to get players to adapt to the culture if you yourself are “walking the talk” – this is key in building relationships with players – a major facet in authentic leadership.

It is clear that Riley and Spoelstra have a strong relationship with all their players, particularly Butler, allowing him to engage in his own authentic leadership style – this is vital as if the coach only exerts a 10% influence, the players then play a key role in displaying leadership and imparting knowledge and ideas onto other players.

“He’s a tremendous leader for us every night. He lays it all out there and there is no other guy that we would want to lead. He’s a leader in the locker room, on the court, off of the court. With him leading, I feel like we’re in good hands”

Rookie Tyler Herro’s quote symbolises what authentic leadership is all about; leading by example and building relationships with teammates inside the sports realm and outside of it (something often overlooked by leaders). Butler is symbolic of the Heat’s culture and as such is the definition of an authentic leader.

Your Culture

As we can see creating a clear organisational culture requires many things – leadership, alignment, recruitment and commitment for example. It is important for everyone involved within an organisation to understand that culture isn’t just something that is wrote up on a wall, it is something that is built within the corridors, the training field, within the interactions with others.

Moreover, in developing a culture you must engage in beliefs and actions that are meaningful to you. You may read this article on the Miami Heat and decide that you’re going to try and implement their ideas. Why?

Implement values that are important to you. Take control of your culture because as we can see it is important that you embody your culture to those around you to ensure buy-in. If you can’t embody your culture you cannot be an authentic leader in most respects, therefore losing one of the key aspects of building a strong organisational culture.

As Pat Riley said; “Win or Misery” – while this is extreme – I I think it sums up succinctly his ideals. If you can say you gave everything you could in training, diet, the gym and all other aspects, result aside, you can be happy, if not you will have that sense of regret and inherent misery.

We all want to grow and positive cultures can create the right environments for this. It's ironic that the man who led the Lakers past the Heat to win the 2020 NBA finals said;

"I was a kid. I grew, and they allowed me to grow. I fit perfectly in that culture because I worked just as hard as anybody else"

- Lebron James

Four Larry O'Briens and four Finals MVPs later, it's fair to say that the Heat Culture has left it's mark on Lebron's career.

But, cultures only work if you do.

#HeatCulture #JimmyButler #ErikSpoelstra #PatRiley #MiamiHeat #NBA #NBAFinals #OrganisationalCulture #LebronJames #WinOrMisery