BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Lessons Learned From Adidas' College-Recruiting Scandal

This article is more than 5 years old.

Bad scandals can quickly undo years of good marketing.

“Here is the bottom line: What is being exposed in major college basketball right now is no different than what goes on in the corporate world,” says Ed Molitor, who made the transition from college basketball coach to leadership coach. “Either produce or get fired.”

Now there is a third choice: go to jail. In October 2018 a New York City jury returned guilty fraud verdicts against two former Adidas employees and an aspiring sports agent, concluding the trio funneled money to the families of college basketball recruits in exchange for the prospects’ commitment to teams sponsored by Adidas.

In the last 26 years, Molitor has developed his leadership skills in both athletics and business. From working as an assistant basketball coach at Texas A&M and other colleges to becoming the vice president of a national recruiting firm, Molitor has taught countless athletes, coaches, and business leaders how to think, act and execute at an elite level.

What lessons can be learned from college basketball recruiting scandals?

“What happens is people look to gain a competitive advantage in ways other than doing things the right way for the right reasons,” says Molitor. “Opportunities to operate in the gray area turn into catalysts for integrity slippage and leaders fail to stay true to their core values and their purpose.”

The federal court judge has set the trio’s sentencing for March 5, just before the start of college basketball’s March Madness playoffs. I do not know if that is mere coincidence.

Have you heard the sports expression, “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying”? Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana famously applied it to NFL teams like the New England Patriots (and his own San Francisco 49ers). The reasoning is in sports, cheating is just trying harder.

Don’t buy into that logic. And obviously it won’t stand up in court.

“When you get to this stage of the game the spin doctors take over and a blatant violation of rules is only ‘cheating’ when you get caught,” says Molitor. “Once you go down that path there is no turning back and you will continue to sell your soul until the clock has expired on your career. This is what happens when people give in to the culture of focusing on resume virtue as opposed to eulogy virtues.”

Leaders have to make a decision as to what standards they are going to set and then hold themselves and everyone under their guidance for living by those standards.

Through leadership training, coaching, and speaking, Molitor’s goal is to supply people and organizations with the necessary tools to move forward from where they are now to where they want to be. He calls his program the Athletics of Business.

“The Athletics of Business is the leadership mindset that the traits and behaviors deployed by elite athletes and high-performing teams are key to your success in business,” says Molitor. “This is about maximizing your potential as a leader and a performer. In order to contribute as much as you are capable to your team you have to work on yourself and the things that you can control.”

Next April 10, 2019 Molitor plans to return to Texas A&M to present a program with Don Yaeger called “Unleashing Greatness.” They will share how the traits and behavior of high-performing leaders in athletics, and how those same traits and behaviors intersect with remarkable business leaders.

“Everything starts with your attitude,” says Molitor. “You have absolute control over your attitude by what you choose to focus on. Where you direct your attention is where your mind will focus and that will create emotions which will dictate your behaviors and it is those behaviors which will drive the process which determines the level of success you experience.”

Are you leading a business team? Molitor offers this advice:

“Create a compelling vision for you and your team and have the ability to get others to not just buy-in to the process but to believe-in the process. Embrace that process and really focus on how you respond to the things you cannot control. Having a purpose and the self-discipline to dial in to the process each day is critical to your success.”

Playing by the rules, in sports or in business, might be the best marketing advice there is.