Leadership is a huge topic. There are a million (maybe more!) ideas about what leadership entails and what leaders look like, so I figured I’d add my two cents to the mix. These ideas were spurred after reading Leadership Freak’s post, The Key That Unlocks Leadership.
My leadership manifesto:
- Believe you matter. Why? Because you do. We coach because we enjoy being around young people and we believe in the life lessons that sport can teach. We have the opportunity to show our teams why sports are awesome on a daily basis…and that matters.
- Make others believe they matter. Why? Because they do. What better gift can we give to our athletes than to show them that they have significance on our team? That without them, our team would cease to be the same? And that once their time on our team is finished, they have the opportunity to be significant at work or in their community?
- Take Action. No team has thought their way into a championship…but teams have worked their way into them. Sure, we have to have a dream or a goal, but at some point we’ll have to put in some work. In a quote from another Leadership Freak article, the author puts in quite well: “What you do makes a difference, not what you want to do.”
- Embrace and follow purpose. Some folks would call purpose a personal mission statement. Basically, it’s why you do what you do. Check out this post, Can You Sum Up Your Coaching Philosophy In 8 Words Or Less?
- Love people, purpose, your organization, and yourself. Be nice…it goes a long way. Know why you do what you do…it’ll keep you grounded in the tough times. Love your institution…even though things about it drive you crazy. Be patient with yourself…nobody’s perfect.
- Have character/integrity. I’ve heard it said that integrity is who we are when no one’s looking…but I also think it’s who we are when everyone is looking. Will we maintain our cool when our team is losing? Will we follow the rules when we know we could get away with cheating? Can our teams trust us to be who we say we’re going to be?
- Be creative. Your team has high expectations for the season. Your team has low expectations for the season. Your team has bad chemistry. Your team is losing. Your team has no energy. Your team has a hothead. There are all sorts of issues that we can face over the course of the year, thinking outside of the box might be just what your team needs to snap out of it.
- Be humble. Success involves, players, coaches, administration, support staff, fans, and parents. As much as we’d love to believe that we the magicians behind the curtains of our team’s success, it takes cooperation from multiple entities to make a program run smoothly.
- Delegate authority. The head coach can’t simultaneously be worried about the practice plan, getting the floor mopped, how the players are doing in class, in-fighting on the team, offensive schemes, defensive schemes, alumni relations, homesick newbies, the booster club, etc. At some point we’ve got to let go of control and let someone else’s light shine.
- Develop passion and vision. Sure, coaching is our job. But it’s also got to be our passion. John Wooden says there is no success without enthusiasm. The Bible has an analogy that says that without vision, people perish. That says to me that in order to push through the normal ups and downs of a season, we’ve got to have a goal for the future.
I don’t think there’s a leadership “magic bullet”. I think we just keep plugging away, studying, and getting better. In that way, we improve in our profession and we model the behavior we want from our athletes.
Want to know more about what I believe? Check out 6 Things I Believe About Team Chemistry, 8 Things I Believe About Coaching Difficult Personalities, 6 Things I Believe About Building Successful Teams.
