Following Red's Lead

Growing up in Boston in the early '80s, the Celtics were the only sports team in town. The decrepit Boston Garden was the home of legends--Cousy, Russell, Havelock, Parish, McHale and, of course, Larry Bird.

These towering athletes achieved greatness through their talent, determination and, most of all, coaching. They all served under the first great leader of the NBA, Red Auerbach.

Auerbach was the Celtics. The cigar-chomping coach led the green warriors of the storied parquet floor to 16 championships. Nowadays, a team repeating a championship is rare. Auerbach mastered a streak that lasted eight seasons -- a record unsurpassed by any major-league sports franchise.

Following his passing last month, many recounted how Auerbach was the embodiment of the Celtics and a reflection of Boston's pride. As I read the tributes to Auerbach, I saw more than a coach who stormed the sidelines -- I saw a leader in the sense of Sun Tzu, a leader who knew his enemies and how to achieve absolute victory.

OK, follow me, because I'll bring this back to the channel. He used his trademark cigar to distract opponents and declare his independence from league masters. If his team had the lead, he would sit quietly on the bench and not showboat for the cameras. When his team was down, he would scream like a banshee and, if necessary, purposely get ejected to rally his troops.

Strategy was always on Auerbach's mind. When playing away-games, he would wait to see what basket the home team would use and then request it for the start of the game. He would encourage his players to use deception whenever possible, whether it was tugging at an opponent's jersey or tricking the refs into thinking they had saved a ball traveling out of bounds. And long before trash-talk became fashionable on the court, he would tell his Celtics to bait opponents with FUD.

Auerbach was maniacal in his pursuit of victory. He always had a plan. He was always three or four steps ahead of his opponents. The lessons of Auerbach to the channel are numerous. In the VARBusiness 2007 State of the Market survey, leadership factors heavily in the success of a business. More so than any other method, establishing and managing goals, having management focus on sales and formalizing a sales plan are what it takes to grow a reseller business. You can see Auerbach in these characteristics.

Given the importance of managerial leadership, Auerbach would likely be surprised by the number of solution providers that aren't following basic leadership principles. Only 44 percent of solution providers have a formalized business plan. Small VARs (under $1 million in revenue) are least likely to have a business plan (40 percent), while midsize VARs ($1 million to $10 million) don't do much better (50 percent).

The failure to plan for success is ironic because these solution providers are also in the best position to capitalize on the fastest-growing segment of the market--the lower end of the midmarket. Statistically, solution providers will service like-sized customers. While a certain amount of growth will come with the natural marketplace inertia, sustained growth only comes with planning to exploit every opportunity.

What's worse: Solution providers that are making business plans and setting strategic objectives aren't effectively measuring their progress. Most solution providers (44 percent) are reviewing their progress on a quarterly basis; more diligent VARs (31 percent) are reviewing plans on a monthly basis. In other words, a substantial number of VARs are wandering blindly through their operations.

If you look at the methods for growing a business, solution providers give short shrift to marketing. Many VARs undervalue advertising, seminars, trade shows and such--mostly because these activities are seen as an expense rather than a business enabler. Auerbach would say that marketing is just as much about promoting your prowess as it is about intimidating your opponents. He wasn't puffing that cigar for nothing.

If Auerbach were a channel coach, I'm sure he would berate anyone who isn't planning for victory, studying the competitors' games for weaknesses and using every tool--and I mean every tool, from skill to trickery--to win. Failing to plan is planning to lose--at least that's what Red would say.