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Leadership Lessons From Duke's Very Own Devil

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This article is more than 8 years old.

This is a guest post by the daughter of Steve Denning, Stephanie Denning, who writes about leadership issues from a Millennial perspective. The views expressed here are her own.

A few weeks ago, I went to watch Duke compete in the 2K Classic tournament at Madison Square Garden. Full disclosure: I don’t follow basketball closely. The closest I come is being a Coach K fan, and even then I only recently learned that Coach K and Krzyzewski are, in fact, the same person.

Anyway, I like Coach K enough that I was curious to go to the game. While we were waiting for the Duke-Georgetown game to start, I asked a friend whether Duke had any star players. #3, he said. When I looked over to see who he was referring to, I thought maybe he made a mistake. #3? Are you sure? He looked a little goofy. And very young.

But once the game got underway, it didn’t take long to realize there was no mistake. The guy was a beast. Even for an amateur basketball spectator, I could tell this guy was good. He was flying all over the court and got so much air that it looked like he spent half the game suspended in mid-flight.

He was captivating to watch. His performance was unique enough that it piqued my interest. Who was this guy and how did he get there? I wanted to know how such an unassuming guy off the court transformed into such a dominant player on the court.

His name was Grayson Allen. A six foot five sophomore from Florida.

When you Google “Grayson Allen,” you find that stories about him began gracing the Internet in April of this year, after having scored 16 points in the championship game against Wisconsin. Of that game, Coach K said: “Grayson put us on his back. We went to him kind of exclusively because of his ability to drive and penetrate. And he did—he finished."

But to start there would do Allen’s story a disservice. It’s Grayson Allen’s story up until that I point that’s far more interesting.

I was surprised to learn Grayson’s cameo in last year’s championship was a rarity rather than a regularity. For most of the year, Grayson had the seemingly less lauded position of warming the bench. “‘I did get down,’ he said of those times when he rarely played. 'And I think that hurt me, […] just falling into spectator mode on the bench.'"

“He was putting pressure on himself. When he would get into games, he was a little hesitant. He just wanted it so bad," said assistant coach Nate James. I can only imagine the frustration. You work so hard to get to this point, you don’t want to mess it up. “His confidence ‘wavered,’ Scheyer said." But Grayson Allen fell back on Coach K's advice to be ready at any moment's notice.

And that time did come in the championship. What was at the root of his success?

1. Believe In The Dream

Despite his performance in the championship, people claim Grayson still suffers from inconsistency. “For Allen, the issue has been confidence. When he plays with it, he does things like score 27 points in a win over Wake Forest or put 16 on Wisconsin in the national title game. When he doesn’t, he’s the guy who loses Coach K’s trust on game-day.”

Confidence can be a tricky thing. It’s a bit vague but very much derived from your experiences. Few people know Grayson Allen wasn’t originally recruited for Duke. It was by mere chance that the recruiter decided to skip a pre-existing recruiting commitment to go see Grayson play instead. Not only that, but for most of his high school career Duke was just a dream. Grayson recalls: “When I was in ninth grade, […], I sat down and had a talk with one of my high school coaches. He asked me where my dream school was and I told him Duke. He laughed at me.”

Imagine all the kids who hear this and accept it as their fate? But Grayson didn’t, and it made all the difference.

Grayson’s had to work hard and push boundaries to get to where he is today. And you don’t lose that fight overnight. There is a persistent undercurrent of feeling like an underdog. The kid that had to fight his way onto the Duke team is still in him somewhere. Compare him to LeBron James who was labeled “The Chosen One” by Sports Illustrated at the age of 17. There is no way he’ll win that confidence battle. Grayson’s confidence is a work-in-progress.

2. Kindle The Fire

What you lack in overt confidence, you can make up for in drive and combativeness. “For Grayson, the type of kid he is – he's a competitive dude,” said Jon Scheyer. His teammate Amile Jefferson is of the same opinion: “He’s hungry, he competes hard every day.”

Winning starts and ends with passion for the game. It ignites a fiery spirit that can’t be extinguished. At the end of the day, it’s his love of the game that acts as the underlying engine of his success. It pushed him to practice time and time again even when he’s getting no playing time. Even when the efforts seem futile. Sheer passion can break through any barrier.

3. Redirect Defeat

Take Duke’s recent loss to Kentucky. Grayson had a dismal performance. But Grayson let that loss fuel his competitiveness. “The response that Grayson had from Kentucky is huge. A lot of kids would question themselves, and he never did,” Krzyzewski said.

According to Allen: “There was obviously a rough film session after the Kentucky game where we talked about the improvements that needed to be made. Once you see that, you move on to the next game. […] For me, coming off the bench it was nothing different as if I was starting. It’s the same aggressive, attacking mindset.”

And therein lies Grayson’s unusual ability to channel any defeat into drive. This is a kid who has worked really hard to get to where he is today and I don’t think he ever loses sight of that. According to assistant coach Jon Scheyer, "'He's worked his butt off. I mean, he has worked so hard. And coming in here, there are times when you had to kick him out of the gym, just because he's in there so long and you want him to get some rest.'"

4. Outwork Yourself

Everyone credits Grayson’s athleticism for his success. An athletic ability that many deem a natural gift. And here I respectfully disagree. Sure, I’ll give that there is a needed minimum of innate talent, but I also believe a lot can be overcome. There is no substitute for hard work.

Let’s take his vertical jump. Allen practiced dunking since he was 8 years old: “I would always have a goal up in my driveway […] If I could dunk eight and a half easy, I’d move it up to nine. If I could dunk nine feet easy, I’d move it up nine and a half. I just kept going up and up and up. I might have gotten my jumping ability just from doing that.” Truer words were never spoken.

The same is true of his three-point shot, another Grayson special: “I think a lot of people still just see me as a three-point shooter. But it was really just dedication. I wasn’t a great three-point shooter at all.”

His dedication to practicing translates completely on the court. In the 90 minutes I watched him play, what struck me most about Grayson Allen was his desire to give it his all. There’s this fire that just shone through the entire time. Per Harry Douglas, an early Allen supporter, “Grayson is one of those kids you just turn loose.” But he became one of those kids, he wasn’t born that way.

5. Get The World To Root For You

What started as a search to learn about Grayson Allen as a player, ended in some inspiration and reassurance for myself.

For all the recent grads and millennials I know who toil away every day pursuing a goal. Friends who are trying to build a startup. Friends who want to break into venture capital. A friend who wants to be comedian. Others who want to be actors. We’re toiling day in and day out, sacrificing a lot of time to pursue a dream. And there are a lot of days we’re frustrated. Frustrated that we’re making no progress. Frustrated that we can’t seem to catch a break. Frustrated that we see people with less talent get opportunities and get the lucky break. Frustrated that maybe this pursuit is pointless.

And that’s why I take comfort in Grayson Allen’s story. I see a guy who worked harder than anybody else. Pure drive and love of the game got him to where he is today. A real-life example of Coelho’s famous quote: “And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

After a nail-biting finish, and a ‘W’ for Duke, Grayson Allen was – very expectedly – named MVP. Leaving the game, I overheard a group of guys standing around excitedly rehashing highlights from the game and opining on Grayson’s future “The kid has serious talent. He could make it in the NBA. He could definitely hold his own.”

I went to the Duke game, curious to watch Coach K, but I left the game, like the rest of the world, rooting for Grayson Allen.

And read also:

The Irony of Seeking Success

Should Millennials Follow Their Passion

Leading The Life You Want

The Four Leadership Lessons Millennials Really Need

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Follow Stephanie Denning on Twitter at @stephdenning