This Culture-Shaping College Basketball Tradition Is Better Than March Madness

This month, college basketball’s March Madness will claim headlines, dominate television screens nationwide, and serve as team-bonding experiences for many of today’s leading business cultures (think office pool!). Even in work-from-home office environments, this annual single-elimination tournament celebrates the sport’s most talented teams and checks all the boxes when it comes to competition.

But I must admit, I have spent the past seven days watching leadership lessons in college hoops that, in my opinion, are hard to top. There’s no cooler tradition in the sport than “Senior Night.”

Today’s one-and-done college basketball culture encourages viewing new recruits and underclassmen as the most prized members on the team, so it’s refreshing to see one night each season dedicated to appreciating the players who have stayed the course, matriculated through the program, and can proudly reflect on the years worth of challenges endured to reach the final regular-season game of their college eligibility.

I watched as basketball Hall of Fame Coach Tom Izzo, held back tears before—not after—his Michigan State Spartans upset their rival from the University of Michigan. Pre-game, Izzo’s Spartans celebrated a fifth-year senior named Joshua Langford, who spent a majority of the past two seasons rehabbing from injuries. In storybook fashion, Langford hit a clutch three-pointer with 49 seconds left to seal victory for Michigan State.

Granted, we all want to hail that Rookie of the Year—that new salesperson who joins the team and doubles their quota month after month. As a leader, we should also be intentional about recognizing the employees whose consistent contributions to the company year-after-year have helped set the stage for that rookie’s success. Many of us admire the biggest rose in bloom, often at the expense of genuinely appreciating the bush that endures the harsh seasons and consistently pushes new buds each Spring. There’s so much value in the person who stays—and ultimately lays a foundation with you.

During senior night, you often see the coach change the starting lineup and insert players who may have never started a game in their career. The coach does it because in that moment the strategy is about more than just wins and losses.

I recently chatted about this with team building expert and best-selling author Simon Sinek for my Corporate Competitor Podcast. He stressed the importance of business leaders being focused more on the consistent effort needed to help the team get ahead and stay ahead, rather than the immediate—and more finite—rewards of today’s actions.

“There are no winners and losers in an infinite game; there is only ahead and behind,” Sinek told me. “In finite games… the players are known, the rules are fixed, and the endpoint is clear. The winners and losers are easily identified. In infinite games, like business, the players come and go, the rules are changeable, and there is no defined endpoint.”

Boosting team morale and enhancing company culture are landmarks every leader should visit when building team success. One of the easiest ways to find sustainable team culture is to recognize the hard-working employee for their tireless efforts on behalf of the company.

Putting a senior role player into the starting lineup isn’t the ideal strategy for a “win now” mindset, but doing so creates a team culture filled with memories that will last forever. I love it when players climb the ladder and cut down the nets to celebrate a championship. But it pales compared to each time I watch “senior night” celebrations that value the invaluable, and place perseverance and grit in a well-deserved spotlight.