Vision and Strategy Mon, Jun 26, 2017

With the NBA Draft happening last Thursday night, my mind is still fully in Sacramento Kings mode. As a long-suffering Kings fan, there have been far more down years than even mediocre years, let alone good years. The epic Vlade Divac, Chris Webber, Doug Christie, Mike Bibby, Peja Stojakovic team of the late 90's and early 00's shaped my childhood and the playoff games my dad and I attended together will probably always be my favorite sports memories.

Since that legendary team broke up, it's been a decade of false starts, bad hires, and terrible draft selections. The Kings have been a laughingstock of the NBA (deservedly so, unfortunately) for much of the past decade, so Thursday night's draft was a very welcomed change of pace for Kings fans. 

I could go on and on about how amazing it was that the Kings took former Kentucky Wildcat () Point Guard, De'Aaron Fox, at #5, or how Vlade (now Kings General Manager) made great moves trading back in the draft from #10 to add the #15 and #20 picks, but that would bore most of you. What's most awesome for a Kings fan today is that the national media is universally praising the Kings for a great draft night. 

To go from an organization that is the butt of all the jokes to an organization that is finally being looked at as competent and united with a clear vision for the future is no small achievement. It's further proof that a sound strategy and a competent vision for the years ahead is the difference between success and failure - in life, in business, and in sports.

Like the Kings the past 10 years, there are many companies (looking at you, Uber) that can have temporary success and look great from the outside, but have a weak vision for the future and questionable leadership, which leaves the internal foundation weak and unstable. We're fortunate here to have a senior leadership team that has a plan and a very clear vision for us as a company, and us individually. That's something that is hard to truly appreciate until you've been on the other side of it.

In basketball terms, SlideBelts is far more like the San Antonio Spurs of the ratchet belt world, and that's a VERY good thing. (But still always, Go Kings!)