Back to Basics: What HOOSIERS Teaches Us About Leadership Fundamentals

I recently listened to an excellent interview with Patricia Frost, CHRO at Seagate, on The Josh Bersin Podcast. She captured today’s leadership paradox perfectly:

“AI can give you a perfect plan. But if leaders don’t deliver it with empathy, conviction, and clarity - it dies.”

Said another way:
AI will never replace the need for leadership.
And the call for strong leadership – especially in the middle - has never been louder.

If you’ve seen the 1986 film Hoosiers, you know it’s more than a basketball movie. It’s a masterclass in leadership that starts with the fundamentals. If you haven’t seen it, or it’s been awhile, go watch it.

A small-town Indiana basketball team, written off by everyone, finds itself under a new coach, Norman Dale (played by Gene Hackman). The players are unpolished. The town is skeptical. The odds are stacked against them.

So where does Coach Dale start?

Not with fancy plays or motivational speeches, but with the basics. Dribbling. Passing. Running the floor.

He knew that without the fundamentals, the big plays would fall apart.

Too often, we assume our middle and frontline managers already have the fundamentals: how to delegate, communicate, and give feedback. But many are left to figure it own, and when things go wrong, they’re the first to be blamed.

But managers don’t need blame. They need help.

Patricia Frost said it best: “AI can write you a flawless plan. But if leaders don’t deliver it with empathy, conviction, and clarity  - it dies.”

Middle and frontline managers impact up to 85% of your workforce. Yet many lack those fundamentals to lead effectively. In an AI-driven world, expecting empathy, conviction, and clarity without that foundation is unrealistic.

That’s the Hoosiers moment.

Before you chase the next Big Thing take a page from the Hoosiers: Evaluate your managers.

You can’t expect game-winning plays without mastering the basics.

Are your managers equipped with those fundamentals?

Technology may be changing how the game is played - but leadership is still how we win it.