BOBBY COX: HOW DOES HE DO IT? Quiet leader lets record do talking
BYLINE: SCOTT LEITH
Staff
DATE: October 3, 2004
PUBLICATION: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The (GA)
EDITION: Home; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SECTION: Sports
PAGE: E1
When Arthur Blank bought the Atlanta Falcons, he looked to a lifetime of business experience to figure out how to rejuvenate his football team.
He also looked across town, to Bobby Cox and the Atlanta Braves.
Blank found what so many others admire: an organization and manager who stand as models of stability. Cox keeps the Braves focused, motivated and virtually devoid of political infighting.
"Those learnings can be carried over to any business," said Blank, who made his fortune building Home Depot. "Stability. Consistency. People to work the plan."
In interviews with a host of leaders who straddle the worlds of business and sports -- from baseball-loving execs to academics to sports insiders who know how tough it is to survive as a big-league manager -- Cox emerges as a man whose style is worth emulating in the business world.
"He is really dedicated to each of his players and their success, not just his own," said Bob Moore, Atlanta division vice president of Publix Super Markets. "I've really tried to pattern some of my thinking after him."
But if people learn from Cox, it's almost by accident -- he's done little to boost his profile as a leader, beyond winning at the ball park.
Many other renowned sports figures -- Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, for example, or Joe Torre of the Yankees -- have parlayed their sporting lives into side careers as authors, speakers or even TV pitchmen.
Not Bobby. He's never written a book about leadership. He's downright reclusive, by celebrity standards, choosing to spend much of his free time at home near Adairsville.
Some see this, plus Cox's low-key demeanor, as a mask for what's underneath.
"We need to be careful that we mistakenly think he doesn't have great passion for what he's doing," said Braves fan David Ratcliffe, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Co. "I don't think it matters what the fans see, as much as what the players know."
Stan Kasten, former president of the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, said Cox's personality doesn't depend on public adulation. "He's found a way to have his ego satisfied by winning."
It's a lesson that resonates with Hank Aaron, the home-run-king-turned-businessman.
"He wants the players to get the accolades," Aaron said.
Cox has a friendly but firm style that keeps players free to do their jobs and still speak their minds.
"His philosophy is, 'One person can't run this thing,' " said Bob Hope, president of Atlanta public relations agency Hope-Beckham. "But he knows that at the end of the day, he's the one that's got to make a decision."
Hope, who had a long career as a public-relations executive with the Braves, wasn't always sure Cox would be successful.
Hope worked for the Braves in the '70s, when Cox was managing and then-owner Ted Turner wanted to revive the near-hopeless team.
"I'd tell Ted all the time, 'Bobby Cox is just too nice,' " Hope said.
But, over time, Hope learned that Cox backs up his players and doesn't blame others for problems, something that pays off in the long run.
Gary Stokan, president of the Atlanta Sports Council, sees a style that's different from what many managers practice.
"There's a certain kind of steward leadership that has a humbleness and patience to it," Stokan said.
Cox, Stokan said, sets goals for players and lets them do their jobs.
Aaron follows this example in his own business ventures, which include car dealerships and restaurants.
"I have a general manager who answers to me," Aaron said. When a problem comes up, Aaron goes to the GM, not to the people below him.
"You want to give those people the responsibility," Aaron said. "That's the same thing Bobby has done."
Euan McGlashan, general manager of Barnsley Gardens, a swanky resort in Adairsville, said Cox runs his team as a network of people, not a top-down hierarchy. McGlashan learned this from talking to Cox, a regular at Barnsley in the wintertime.
"The way you see Bobby on the field is how he is in person," McGlashan said. "He just seems like he's never under pressure."
Yet Cox is forceful, too, when it comes to his players.
"He lets them know exactly how he feels, good or bad," said Cox's agent, Lonnie Cooper, president and CEO of Career Sports & Entertainment in Atlanta. "He's just a very direct person. I don't think he lets his emotions get in front of him."
Part of Cox's style stems from his role with the Braves, which he has managed since 1990, the year he was replaced as general manager by John Schuerholz.
Kasten said GMs and managers often battle. But Schuerholz and Cox didn't.
"It absolutely might have happened," Kasten said, "because John was replacing Bobby."
The combination of the two is a key issue in the Braves' ongoing success.
Blank saw it as a good model for the Falcons. "That's one of the reasons I dug my heels in and said, 'I'm going to get the best GM I can.' "
The biggest criticism of Cox is his slim number of World Series titles -- one. Torre, of the Yankees, has managed in six World Series, winning four.
But if that's an issue with fans, many business leaders look past it.
"That shouldn't discount the fact that he's been able to consistently take a diverse group of individuals and mold them into a group that is committed to win," Ratcliffe said. "This year is a perfect example."
Early on, few would have believed the Braves could win a 13th consecutive division championship. As usual, however, Cox stood behind his team.
Cox's deep loyalty to his players remains one of his most-admired traits among outsiders.
"Publicly, he will always, always, always have your back," Kasten said.
Cox has dealt with dozens of players during his time with the Braves. In a game of big egos, Cox is known for keeping his feelings out of the public eye.
"He's got to hate someone, right?" Kasten said. "You would never know about it."
Bill Bogner, a longtime Braves fan and associate professor in Georgia State University's department of management sciences, admires this trait enough to mention it in class.
"Bobby sticks up for his people," Bogner said. "He knows when to shut the office door and make sure those problems don't get out."
Some say the Braves need an emotional manager, especially during playoff time. Hope has heard from those who wish for a "firebrand" who could "make the team play at a higher level for two weeks."
But Hope sees troubles with fiery managers. "That personality," he said, "just does not work in the long run."
Kenneth Shropshire, director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania, said Cox's durable success could easily provide fodder for the kind of book of advice he's avoided doing all these years.
"I can see the sales pitch now -- 'He finally talks!' " Shropshire said.
"He's the story of how to consistently be at the top."
