First, tell me what drove you to write your book, A Different Way to Win?
When I started the process, my father was still with us. We were thinking of putting something together for the Harvard Business Review on his career and approach to business – how he got to the Rooney Rule and the other core elements of his career, He did such a great job balancing competency and doing what he needed to do as a leader while being respectful to those around him.
He was very involved in political causes obviously – especially as you look at the NFL today, how was he able to marry his political approach while keeping it out of the locker room and NFL?
Well, everything is blurred in this world these days, but my father did what he did because he felt a passion for it. He didn’t do those things for himself – he did them because he wanted to improve situations and conditions for folks. Throughout his career – the Rooney Rule, Ireland – he was a guy with influence but used that to help folks who had been systematically left out. And he would work with anyone – he didn’t care about the labels. As long as they would help him achieve those aims, he didn’t care.
Fairness was a driving factor for him – that’s what he cared about.
What drove that passion for fairness?
I talk about this in the book. There was a Catholic priest – Father Glasgow – who asked my father to march with he and other priests in the civil rights marches in Alabama. My father didn’t go – and he said that was his biggest mistake. That was a rallying cry for him. He said he was supposed to be this good guy, but he needed to put that into action. Soon after he hired Bill Nunn and they started drafting guys from the HBCUs. He went to Ireland and started to understand better the struggles of the Catholics there that were being denied loans and housing opportunities.
Not going really bothered him. I think that motivated him for the rest of his life.
I’ve spoken to a number of former coaches who talked about how innovation was so key to the Steelers organization. What about your father and your family in general helped spur that?
That’s such a good point. I talk about that in the book. Bill Nunn, Joe Gordon and Chuck Noll – they really helped bring that out as part of his management team. When Noll named Joe Gilliam as his starting quarterback – even though it ended up being for just six-to-eight games – it was a big change. I spoke to Donnie Shell, Stallworth and Mel Blount about that. It sent a clear message that they didn’t just talk the talk. It wasn’t old-time thinking any more. The best players got to play. It was part of their culture now – a place of belonging for everyone. Those guys were competitive – they didn’t want things to be handed to them. They just wanted those artificial barriers to not be there.
And the way the Steelers fans represent the team everywhere – that’s due to my dad and Joe Gordon – the Steelers PR person at the time. They strategically built relationships with the media. Stan Savran called Gordon the best PR guy he ever worked with. He was honest and straightforward. My father and Joe wanted to create something – an image that really represented Western PA. Tough on the field., honest and straightforward off the field. He said it was the reality becoming the perception. If you do things a certain way you create a certain reality and perception.
Patience is also something that has been instrumental in the team’s success. Where did that patience come from in your family?
It is throughout my family -another thing I talk about in the book. We had three generations of my family’s immigrant experience before Art. Back and forth from Ireland, Wales, Western PA, Ohio….they lost jobs in the mills and struggled to make it. My grandfather was a boxer and promoter – he was great at those things but not at operating things. They had good and bad years. I think that immigration experience and those struggles helped him appreciate the need for continuity and stability.
My brother Art – stability and continuity are his middle names. He is passionate of course about things but he’s willing to look at things over a long period of time. He and my father understood that patience and continuity were part of what was missing from those earlier generations.
One thing I learned as I spoke with guys like LeBeau and Dungy was how hard yet essential it was to be close to those to work with yet still “be the boss”. How was your father and family able to do that so well?
It is a struggle – and we didn’t always do it in every situation – we just seemed to get the good press more than the bad!
My father – he was willing to be uncomfortable. He didn’t mind if things were uncertain for a while. That allowed him to be genuine. He could be close to anyone because he would treat them with respect and kindness, but he knew they still had to be competent. People could see that -that he was authentic.
Things weren’t one-sided with him. You may not like the decision he made or the process he took to get there, but you knew he was genuine and thorough. And others saw that and felt they could do it that way then too – guys like Cowher, LeBeau – not just Chuck Noll, who he learned a lot from.
What exactly did he learn from Chuck?
My dad worked beside guys like Halas, Paul Brown, Lombardi – they all built up programs and did great things. The Chief was a legend but he did things on his own. He outlined his idea of success but Chuck taught him how to make it real. That you could go all in on your vision. He gave him a partner to make it all work.