Leadership expert offers caution to Dodgers, Frank McCourt

"They're at a tipping point," observed Warren Bennis, a bright-eyed, white-haired USC professor. "Frank McCourt needs to be very careful now."

I was all ears, which is hardly uncommon when Bennis offers his opinion. Long hailed for his study of management and leadership, Bennis has advised four U.S. presidents, numerous Fortune 500 companies and written a trove of books detailing what does and doesn't work when it comes to groups as small as your family or as large as Starbucks.

So I brought Bennis, 83, to a recent game to get his take on L.A.'s boys in blue.

The Dodgers are on a nice little surge after acquiring Manny Ramirez. Still, at 11-9 with Manny aboard it's not exactly as if they're suddenly a true contender. This is a team still trying to find the right mix of age and youth. "We're looking at a team that is labile," said Bennis, who has a reputation for thinking outside the sandbox.

"Uh, that's a fancy word in physiology," he said. "A labile physical system is one that is in a state of flux."

He advised me to look beyond the recent hoopla.

What happens if the sweet swinging Ramirez, a free agent to be, bolts town at season's end? Next year, the Dodgers will either fall back to their sputtering ways, or young players such as Kemp and Clayton Kershaw will take the next step in their maturation, bringing L.A. the consistent contender it has not had in years.

We watched Kemp catch a ball at the warning track and Andre Ethier smack a homer.

So, to tip the team the right way, does it come down to leadership? You bet, said the professor. Leadership from the very top, from the owner, Frank McCourt.

"Right now, he needs to be extremely astute with everything he does . . . [With a labile system] any intervention, any small movement, could have a huge impact, an impact that could be felt for years."

Bennis said McCourt had room for growth.

We spoke of Arte Moreno, the Angels' owner. When his team pulled off the recent trade for Mark Teixeira, Moreno went into hiding, allowing others to take the spotlight.

By contrast, when the Dodgers pulled off the startling Ramirez trade, McCourt was front and center in the media, as he so often seems to be.