Jason Romano knows how to foster strong relationships with athletes and coaches. He perfected this craft across two decades at ESPN, working as an award-winning producer for the network's top programs.
But Romano didn't reach his goals -- or become the current media director for the outlet Sports Spectrum -- without some help along the way. Throughout the years, he's learned several lessons about leadership, and one that Romano values happened to come from a champion NFL head coach.
"Back in 2010, this was when Pete Carroll had just taken the job with the Seahawks. He had left USC, it was a big deal, leaving all the success in college to go into the NFL," Romano told After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Wednesday. "And I had Pete scheduled to come to ESPN's campus and do a bunch of interviews. And Pete is excited -- obviously he comes from one side of the country all the way to Connecticut where ESPN is located -- and about to do a bunch of shows. And I have him scheduled for our morning show that day, and it also happens to be the day that [Yankees owner] George Steinbrenner passes away.
"So, I'm kind of freaking out, like, 'Oh no, there's going to be all of these radio shows and TV shows and digital shows that are going to now cancel what we had scheduled for months with Pete Carroll because they want to cover the George Steinbrenner story. And so I'm kind of giving him the heads-up on this, and Pete was awesome. He looks at me and says, 'Jason, it's going to be okay. We're going to do the best we can. If I can do one show, if I can do five shows, if I can do zero shows, it's fine. You can't predict breaking news.' Here's the leadership lesson: Pete Carroll was the thermostat and not the thermometer.
"So, as leaders, we can either be a thermostat or we can be a thermometer. The thermometer is what the temperature is in the room. The thermostat sets the temperature. And Pete Carroll, that day, understood that the temperature in Jason's world was rising quite a bit, as I was getting nervous. And he calmed that down and said, 'Listen, you're fine, we're good.' And he set the temperature... I've talked to many players who played with him since about that day, and they said, 'That's how he is every single day when he gets ready for a practice or a game.' He is a thermostat, and not a thermometer."
The entire conversation between Romano and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.