Back from vacation

I'm back from my vacation and while I was away the following things related to life and leadership happened:

1) My first blog posting regarding the New York Islanders unraveled into a typical Mike Milbury mess. Neil Smith, an experienced GM was fired less than a month after being hired. Pat LaFontaine resigned in frustration. And finally goaltender Garth Snow - an average goaltender at best, especially with the NHL enforcing the rules about the size of goalie equipment - retires and is named the GM. I'm beginning to understand how Mike Milbury has survived so long... and the reason is Charles Wang (team owner) is even crazier than him. And here I thought there was hope for the Isles.

2) The Calgary Flames General Manager Darryl Sutter stepped out of the head coaching duties and turned them over to Jim Playfair, formerly the Associate Head Coach. Good leaders plan for their succession.

3) The Toronto Blue Jays dealt with an interesting "in-the-clubhouse" situation which resulted in Shea Hillenbrand (1B/3B/DH) being dealt to the SF Giants. I'm not totally convinced that Hillenbrand was all in the wrong or that manager John Gibbons was totally in the right, but when I heard catcher Greg Zaun's full explanation on TSN last Thursday (July 20), I was quite impressed with the full story. And the fact that the Jays just beat the Yankees 3 out of 4 may speak for the resolved unity of the team.