The Wizards’ owner hosted President Obama, then worked the cleaning crew
Ted Leonsis volunteered to do every job in his own company. So on the night a sitting president came to a Washington Mystics game, his shift was on the cleaning crew, picking up what the crowd left behind.
Ryan Patel spent a day with him: a playground build with Wizards and Capitals players, a walk through Capital One Arena mid-rebuild, and a sit-down on what he actually worries about. His rule is that a chief executive owns the biggest things and the smallest things, and management owns everything in between.
Also covered: the roof everyone told him was impossible, what he will never delegate, and why his son now runs the company with him.
Timestamps
0:00 For some, sports is a way of life. For a few, it’s a business worth billions
1:21 Starting at a school playground, not a boardroom
2:22 Culture carriers: Great players who are better people
3:17 How a team becomes a destination
4:25 Capital One Arena, mid-rebuild
5:18 The roof everyone said couldn’t be done
5:59 Errors of omission are unacceptable
6:29 He hasn’t shot a basketball in five years
7:19 Why a rules-based world is the point of sport
8:14 The broken hockey stick that led to buying the team
9:39 Zach Leonsis on what leadership means to him
10:10 The President, and then the cleaning crew
11:54 Big things and little things. Management gets the middle
13:07 The Vault Suites, and a recurring-revenue model
15:49 Succession, and future-proofing the organisation
16:56 Not the CEO. The chief worrying officer
18:09 Why he makes people take Myers-Briggs
19:12 The library book that taught him to mow lawns
21:43 Sprint round
24:26 Sixteen rings, and the ones that got away
#TedLeonsis #MonumentalSports #HowTheyRun #YahooFinance #Leadership
==
AlphaSpace by Yahoo Finance: A Professional-Grade Investment Platform Built for Everyday Investors.
👉 https://finance.yahoo.com/about/promos/gold/alphaspace?ncid=100003571
