Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
Case 16.3: 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey
Team
Case Synopsis and Analysis
In 1980, sports history was made as the United States Olympic hockey team won the Gold
Medal, beating Finland in the finals. The team had also bested the Soviet Union team in the
semi-finals, a team that was the favorite to win the Gold Medal in 1980. The Soviet national
team worked and lived together for 11 months a year and prior to the Olympics beat the NHL
All-Star team in an exhibition game.
The U.S. hockey team was coached by Herb Brooks. Coach Brooks was a successful coach
in the Division I collegiate ranks, most recently coaching at Minnesota where he transformed
that program into a winner. Brooks was not the first choice to coach this team, but when the
opportunity presented itself, he presented his plan. In a strategic move, he wanted to
Learning Objectives:
• Students will define how Team Leadership works and operates.
Answers to Questions in the Text:
1. What is your reaction to Herb Brooks as a team leader? Do the ends in this case
justify the means?
Many align coaches with wins or losses. Somehow, in our society, that is the most
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
2. Describe how each of the eight characteristics of team excellence applied to Brook’s
coaching of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.
The book defines these eight areas as: Clear/elevating goal, results-driven structure,
competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, standards of
excellence, external support and recognition, and finally principled leadership.
3. The Hill Model for Team Leadership advocates that the leader’s job is to monitor the
team and take whatever action is necessary to ensure team effectiveness. Describe the
actions Brooks took in relation to the internal leadership aspects of the model:
a. Task (goal focusing, structuring for results, facilitating decisions, training,
maintaining standards)
b. Relational (coaching, collaborating, managing conflict, building commitment,
satisfying needs, modeling principles)
This aspect is a tad unclear, based on the case. The case sets Coach Brooks up
as a dictator, “my way or the highway!!” That may be true. But lost in that
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
4. Hill states that “the leader has special responsibility for functioning in a manner that
will help the team achieve effectiveness” While the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team
was highly successful, do you think it was because of Herb Brooks’s leadership?
Explain your answer.
Yes and maybe. History shows us that this team (including the coaching staff and
larger community) was a special group that did special things. But, again, would this
Potential Teaching Approaches:
Below is a way to structure a class, based on Team Leadership and Case Study 16.3:
• Lecture on the Team Leadership and allow students to define Team Leadership.
• Ask students to read Case 16.3.
• Students should discuss the key characteristics of Team Leadership and be ready
Exercises for This Case Study:
1. Show clips from YouTube (or similar site) from the 2004 movie Miracle. Place them
into groups and ask students to a list of examples which showcase team effectives
2. Ask students to create a list of “impactful sport coaches” from the last 15 years. Who
are they? What did they do? How should we measure success for sport teams, beyond
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publications, 2021
3. In a personal essay (250-300 words), ask students to reflect on a situation where they
were a member of a team (student organization, workplace team, volunteer group,