Here is the fourth post in the new series from our leadership collection, which highlights some great and not-so-great practices. Today, we’re looking at some leadership hits and misses in the NHL.

Leadership Bull – NHL’s Brendan Shanahan champions player safety message

Nobody wants to sit patiently while a CEO, politician, or their friend’s dad drones on about their childhood for no reason. But in certain situations, a good personal story is what it takes to successfully challenge conventional wisdom and bolster a persuasive argument.

Consider Brendan Shanahan – who played in the NHL for over 20 years and is now the league’s Vice President of Hockey and Business Development – as an example. This leader recently took a very personal approach when addressing a controversial issue at the Molson World Hockey Summit held at the Air Canada Centre last week.

During the event, hockey leaders discussed how to keep young players engaged in the sport. According to USA Hockey's Regional Manager Bob Mancini, 44 percent of USA Hockey's youth players stop playing the game before they reach the age of nine. The leaders agreed that one of the best ways to keep players interested is to eliminate the common practice of introducing body checking to young players.

When asked for his opinion on teaching children to take a hit, the National Post reported that Shanahan simply said: “Don’t do it.” Elaborating later, he said: “I always had a dream of playing in the NHL, but I don’t think my parents ever made any decision that was steering me toward that direction. They never put me in harm’s way to try to obtain that.”

Shanahan also said that he maintained a love for the game because it was fun for him and that he encourages his seven-year-old son to have fun with it too.

By weaving his personal experiences into his argument, Shanahan successfully challenged the common perception that sacrificing personal safety and teaching body checking at a young age will shape better players.

Persuasive speakers can use statistics and research from the leading universities to support an argument, but it’s the personal stories that leave a lasting impression and get heads nodding. Granted, it can be somewhat self-indulgent to talk about yourself all the time. But by finding a personal story that relates directly to the issue at hand, and using it appropriately, leaders can take a bold stance on pressing issues.

Leadership Bear – Gary Bettman dodges NHL Olympic question

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman is arguably one of the least popular leaders in the league’s recent history. A prominent figure in two major labour disputes – one of which resulted in the cancellation of the entire 2004-2005 hockey season – Bettman is no stranger to criticism. Many hockey blogs condemn his every move, and at FireBettman.com, fans bond over why he should resign or be removed from his post.

And unless he starts relating to fans and players on an emotional level soon, Bettman isn’t going to gain much in the way of brownie points. Back in November of 2007, Bettman told reporters that, following the Vancouver Olympics, the NHL may no longer suspend play mid-season so that players can compete in the games.

Nearly three years later, Bettman has still not confirmed whether his league will send players to the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. In the wake of a successful 2010 Winter Olympics – which united an entire country as Canadians witnessed NHL player Sidney Crosby clinch the gold medal for the men’s hockey team in overtime – the pressure has never been greater for Bettman to re-think the idea of not sending NHL players to Sochi.

At the Molson World Hockey Summit, emotions ran high as several panelists, including current players, pleaded for the NHL to continue its presence in the Olympics.

But Bettman dismissed the comments. As reported on the NHL’s official Web site, he said: "Raising this to an emotional level – rhetoric publicly and privately – that isn't going to get this done. When the Board gets together trying to deal with this issue, it is going to be based on a very reasoned analysis that goes to what the issues are both for the Olympics and for the NHL.”

Of course, as Bettman knows, logic forms the basis for sound decisions. Good leaders take a pragmatic approach and carefully weigh the pros and cons of several scenarios before diving in and taking a specific path. But at the end of the day, leaders can’t simply ignore the human side of the argument. Emotions motivate people to buy the latest gadgets, change behaviours, and shell out money for seats at a hockey game.

Whether the NHL decides to send its players to Sochi remains to be seen, but in either case, Bettman will need to acknowledge the feelings of players and fans when justifying the decision. If not, he risks further alienating the very people whose support impacts the commercial success of the league.