Is there really VISION without COMMUNICATION??

"If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around......

Similarly, if a leader has a "Vision" but doesn't (can't) communicate, is there really a vision?



Coaching is such a great job because of all the variety that the job brings. As a coach you have the opportunity to meet and talk with so many people and learn from such different sources. I'm fortunate to talk daily with business leaders, coaches, career coaches, ministers, managers and the list goes on. It's always interesting the topics tend to be very similar in all aspects of leadership. The following are some thoughts and questions from conversations with different people at different times but you can see how they likely apply to us daily.

While discussing these thoughts and questions, there were very few answers. And each question generally leads to another.

• I believe that without communication, there is no vision.
• Nothing is gained when a leader focuses and prepares their vision, if the vision isn't communicated to the people/ team/ staff that must carry out the vision.
• A vision is only as good as its execution.
• Leaders depend on their "team" to claim and seize the vision.
• There can be no sustained effort or intentionality if the team/ players, etc are unsure or unaware of critical elements of a leader's vision.
• A vision, a dominant aspiration can't be a "secret". But we often see a lack of communication and the process needed to execute is missing because the team/ staff, etc. is unaware of details, events, etc. that are part of the vision.
• The question becomes, "Why?"
  • Why isn't essential information about "vision" not communicated?
    • Lack of preparation?
    • Lack of clarity in the process?
    • Lack of trust?
    • Lack of competence?
• Is there Vision with poor communication?
  • Does the manner of the communication of a vision affect the vision of an organiztion?
  • Does the manner/ mode of communication affect the trust, loyalty and passion of a team's process of the vision?
• When staff, players, etc. are aware of a lack of communication what should be the process of correcting the issue? Who's responsibility does communication rest with?
• Is silence acceptance?
• A vision is more than a simple statement written for a policy and procedures manual. It must have an emotional attachment to drive a team, company, etc.
• Proper communication about a Vision generates enthusiasm and brings energy.  And poor communication will drain energy.
• Without proper communication about vision--a team, staff, etc. will tend to fill in the "gaps" with what they thought...As opposed to what really "is".  Which leads to a lack of clarity and another vicious cycle begins.
• We talk with our team about "clutter".  We define clutter as anything that we think about or deal with that doesn't take us closer to our vision.  If the vision isn't communicated clearly and intentionally--then everything we do can essentially become clutter.  Because it's not taking us to our "vision".
• General MaCarthur said, "Don't give orders that can be understood, give orders that can't be misunderstood."
• Without clear communication, we are certainly in jeopardy of giving orders that can be misunderstood.
• I don't believe that, "less is more" when it involves the clarity and intentionality of a vision of a team.
• It's the trust, faith, clarity and intentionality of a vision that drives teams to greatness.

"You Can't Fake Leadership"

Sally Jenkins wrote a fascinating article on Leaderhsip (Followership) (click on the highlighted text to read the article).  I encourage you to read the entire article.  Below are some key points I took away from her observations:

1. Leadership isn't about domination, it's about persuasion.
2. Leadership only works when people find you credible and grant you their cooperation.
3. Leadership is more than charisma and talent.
4. The study of Leadership should be on the followers, not the leader.  Therefore, the study is on "Followership".
5. Followership--Followers want four things:  (a) Integrity  (b) Confidence  (c) Decision-Making  (d) Clarity
6. What Followers Do Not Want:  (a) Irritability  (b) Moodiness  (c) Untrustworthiness  (d) Indecisiveness  (e) Needless Micromanagement  (f) Excessive Authority--Followers see these things as incompetent.
7. Leadership study of the number of flight errors of a crew correlated to the personality of the captain.
8. Crews led by captains perceived as agreeable, self-confident and emotionally reliable made the fewest errors.
9. Crews with captains considered arrogant, hostile, passive-aggressive or dictatorial made the most errors.
10. Leaders lose their teams when the followers withdraw their consent to be led.
11. Red Auerbach--"You don't motivate teams, you motivate players, one by one, by building relationships."
12. A leader is worth nothing without voluntary commitment, because the followers are actually more in charge of the outcome.
13. Ever aspiring leader should ask, "Would people choose to follow me?"

Key To Coaching

Coaching is an art not a science. The key is finding a different way to reach every kid on our roster.

We are teaching kids how to play basketball and how to live their life. We're not coaching basketball, we're coaching kids.

Great Leaders Do Not Avoid Small Duties

There is an incident told of the Revolutionary War, about an officer who ordered his men to cut down some trees which were needed to make a bridge.  There were not nearly enoubh men, and work was going very slowly.  Up rode a commanding-looking man and spoke to the officer in charge, who was urging his men but doing nothing himself.  "You haven't enough men for the job, have you?"

"No, sir.  We need some help."

"Why don't you lend a hand yourself?" asked the man on horseback.

"Me, sir?  Why, I am a corporal," replied the officer, looking rather affronted at the suggestion.

"Ah, true," quietly replied the other, and getting off his horse he labored with the men until the job was done.  Then he mounted again, and as he rode off he said to the officer,

"Corporal, the next time you have a job to put through and too few men to do it you had better send for the Commander-In-Chief, and I will come again."

It was George Washington.

3 Areas That Coaches Build

Three Areas That Coaches Develop and Build
1.  Build Vision
2.  Build People
3.  Build Accountability and Responsibility

4 Things Leaders Work To Provide Their Followers

4 Things Great Leaders Work To Provide Provide Their Followers

1.  The opportunity to LEARN
2.  To help them to grow in RESPONSIBILITY
3.  The opportunity to CONTRIBUTE to others
4.  The chance to be RECOGNIZED

5 Rules For Leading Your Teammates

5 Rules for Leading Your Teammates

"It’s not enough to do your best; you must know what to do, and THEN do your best."

–W. Edwards Deming

Contrary to what you may have heard, great leaders aren't born. They're made. Exceptional team leaders are shaped by following these five rules.

Rule 1: Be Prepared Team leaders earn the right to lead by being prepared. The prepared leader is always in the process of improving. They stimulate improvement by always asking more of themselves. What am I doing well? Where do I need to improve? How do my behaviors impact my teammates? Leadership grows out of self-knowledge, character, integrity, discipline, competence and commitment to a personal vision of excellence. When these building blocks are in place you have the foundation to model the way for your teammates.

Rule 2: Build Right Relationships The ability to effectively lead your team will be determined by the quality and character of the relationships you build. Exceptional leaders build genuine relationships with teammates based on authenticity and appreciation. Leadership is always a two-way interaction between leaders and followers—between you and your teammates. Exceptional team leaders ground interactions in respect and genuine care, and understand that right relationships emerge when everyone has a mutual influence and impact on each other.

Rule 3: Foster Integrity Leaders function at their best when they are consistent in their values, actions, and words. Part of the sport experience is dealing with losses, failures, and disappointments. How you handle and help teammates work through adversity will influence trust and loyalty among team members. Supporting and reassuring teammates in times of doubt will help others learn, grow, and change. Acting with integrity is the glue to building a cohesive team.

Rule 4: Exert Influence Your success as a leader will be found in getting teammates to go beyond themselves—to give more to the team than they ever believed they were capable of giving. Leadership is fundamentally about change. A common problem is that most people feel little need to move beyond their comfort zone. This requires motivating teammates by persuading and influencing them to change in some basic ways, challenging them get out of their comfort zone. Your actions and attitudes will exert influence through your personal example—providing energy by embodying high standards and demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the team’s vision.

Rule 5: Know Where You’re Going The difference between being an average team leader or an exceptional team leader is knowing where you’re going. Great team leaders cultivate an attractive and inspiring vision for individual excellence and contribution to the team. This requires understanding the Big Picture and using it as your road map and rudder. To motivate others to follow you need to sell the Big Picture, getting your teammates to believe in the team’s purpose, vision and goals.

Taken from Cory Dobbs at Sportleadership.com

4 Things Players Want From Their Coaches

All coaches/ leaders work to be difference makers in the lives of their players.




There are four items that players/ employees look for value from their leaders:




1.  Affirmation




2.  Validation




3.  They want to add value




4.  They want to be stretched

5 Consistencies of Great Leaders

1. Competence
2. Respect
3. Integrity
4. Discipline
5. Resolve

Tim Tebow's Leadership--Motivating Others

From Tim Tebow--
"But whether you are talking about being a coach or being a player--the thing that's hard is leadership. In the past, I have worked at casting a vision and modeling appropriate behavior, but this season, I was faced with the challenge of getting through to guys who were wired differently than I was. I had to keep finding new ways to motivate others."

Leadership/ Thinking & Solitude

The following is a summary of a lecture given by William Deresiewicz to the plebe class at the United States Military Academy in October of 2009. It is one of the greatest pieces I have come across that has challenged my thinking as a coach, a parent, a Christian, every aspect of my life.

Solitude is one of the most important necessities of true leadership.
What does leadership really consist of?
Being energetic? Smart? Ambitious? Are these things enough to make leaders?
Great heart surgeons, great novelists and great shortstops may be terrific at what they do, but that doesn't mean they are leaders.

Observation--that great kids have been trained to be world class hoop jumpers. Any goal you set them, they could achieve. Any test you give them, they could pass with flying colors.

A pursuit of excellence isn't usually what gets you up the "greasy pole". What gets you up is a talent for maneuvering. Kissing up to the people above you, kicking down to the people below you. Pleasing your teachers, pleasing your superiors, picking a powerful mentor and riding his coattails until it's time to stab him in the back. Jumping through the hoops. Getting along by getting along. Being whatever other people want you to be, so that it finally comes to seem that, you have nothing inside you at all.

We find people in environments where what is rewarded above all is conformity. We have a crisis of leadership because our overwhelming power and wealth, earned under earlier generations of leaders, made us complacent and for too long we have been training leaders who only know how to keep the routine going. Who can answer questions, but don't know how to ask them. Who can fulfill goals, but don't know how to set them. Who think about think about how to get things done, but not whether they're worth doing in the first place.

What we don't have are thinkers. People who can think for themselves. People who can formulate a new direction: for the country, for a corporation or a college, etc.--a new way of doing things, a new way of looking at things, in other words, with vision.

A PHD doesn't mean you are a thinker. There are lots of educated people who are not thinkers. A thinker and a leader is able to think things through for themselves. And because they can, they have the confidence, the courage, to argue for their ideas even when they aren't popular. Courage; moral courage, the courage to stand up for what you believe.

True leadership means being able to think for yourself and act on your convictions. But how do you learn to do that? How do you learn to think?

You don't learn to think by multitasking. It's not only not thinking, it impairs your ability to think. Thinking means concentrating on one thing long enough to develop and idea about it. Not learning other people's ideas, or memorizing a body of information, however much those may sometimes be useful. Developing your own ideas,. In short, thinking for yourself.

Our first thought is never our best thought. The first thought is always someone else's; it's always what I've already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. It's only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the pats of my mind come into play, that we arrive at an original idea. By giving our brain a chance to make associations, draw connections, often take us by surprise.

The great German novelist Thomas Mann said that a writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. The best writers write much more slowly than everyone else, and the better they are, the slower they write. James Joyce wrote Ulysses, the greatest novel of the 20th century, at the rate of about 100 words per day. T.S. Eliot, one of the greatest poets of our time wrote about 150 pages of poetry over the course of his entire 25 year career. That's a half a page a month. So it is with any other form of thought. You do your best thinking by slowing down and concentrating.

Concentrating. Think about what that word means. It means gathering yourself together into a single point rather than letting yourself be dispersed everywhere into a cloud of electronic and social input. Questions we must answer--Am I doing the right thing with my life? Do I believe the things I was taught as a child? What do the words like duty, honor, country--really mean?

"Your own reality"...for yourself, not for others. Thinking for yourself means finding yourself, finding your own reality. With Facebook and Twitter you are constantly bombarding yourself with other people's thoughts. You are marinating yourself in the conventional wisdom. In other people's reality: for other, not for yourself. Emerson said--"he who should inspire and lead his race must be defended from traveling with the souls of other men, from living, breathing, reading and writing in the daily, time-worn yoke of their opinions." Notice that he uses the word lead. Leadership means finding a new direction, not simply putting yourself at the front of the herd that's heading toward the cliff.

So why is reading books any better than reading tweets or wall posts? Well, sometimes it isn't. Sometimes, you need to put down your book, if only to think about what you're reading. What you think about what you're reading. A book has two advantages over a tweet. First, the person who wrote it thought about it a lot more carefully. The book is the result of his solitude, his attempt to think for himself.

Second, most books are old. This is not a disadvantage: this is precisely what makes them valuable. They stand against the conventional wisdom of today simply because they're not from today. Great books say things that have the permanent power to disrupt our habits of thought. They were revolutionary in their own time, and they are still revolutionary today. The American Revolution was revolutionary thinking. It was a result of precisely this kind of thinking. Without solitude--the solitude of Adams and Jefferson and Hamilton and Madison and Thomas Paine--there would be no America.

So solitude can mean introspection, it can mean the concentration of focused work and it can mean sustained reading. All of these can help you know yourself better.

Introspection means talking to yourself.

How will you find the strength and wisdom to challenge an unwise order or question a wrongheaded policy? What will you do the first time you have to write a letter to the mother of a slain soldier? How will you find the words of comfort that are more than just empty formulas?

The time to start preparing yourself for dilemmas is now. And the way to do it is by thinking through these issues yourself--morality, mortality, honor--so you will have the strength to deal with them when they arise. Waiting until you have to confront them in practice would be like waiting for your first firefight to learn how to shoot your weapon. Once the situation is upon you, it's too late. You have to be prepared in advance. You need to know, already, who you are and what you believe; not what others, or your boss believes, not what your peers believe, but what you believe.

How can you know that unless you have taken counsel with yourself in solitude?

Three Things To Know About Practice

Tom Mullins wrote the "Leadership Game", which contains principles from eight college national champion football coaches. "All the national champion coaches said that the key to going from good to great came in two areas: The preparation of the team and the practice of the players. They were forever upgrading their preparation and sharpening their practices."

Three Things To Know About Practice:

1. Practice enables development
a. Done correctly, practice keeps making you better than you were yesterday.
b. If you don't practice, you shortchange your potential.


2. Practices Lead To Discovery:
a. If you commit yourself to practice, here are a few things you are likely to learn:
i. Practice both shows and build commitment.
ii. Your performance can always be improved.
iii. The sharpening process is better in the right environment
1. You can't discover your abilities and improve your skills in an environment where you are not allowed to make mistakes.
2. Improvement always requires some degree of failure.
iv. You must be willing to start with small things.
v. Very small differences, consistently practice, will produce results.
vi. There is a price to pay to reach the next level


3. Practice Demands Discipline
a. Developing discipline always begins with a struggle.
b. There is no easy way to be a disciplined person.
c. It is a matter of conditions, but of choice
d. Once the choice is made and practice becomes a habit, two things become obvious:
i. A separation between the person who practices and the one who doesn't
ii. The second thing that emerges is a winning spirit.
e. The harder you work, the harder it becomes to surrender.

Leadership & Discernment

"Smart leaders believe only half of what they hear. Discerning leaders know which half to believe."

Discernment=The ability to find the root of the matter, it relies on intuition as well as rational thought.

"Nothing in life is to be feared, only to be understood."

Discernment enables a leader to see a partial picture, fill in the missing pieces intuitively, and find the real heart of the matter.

The closer a leader is to his area of gifting, the stronger his intuition and ability to see root causes. If you want to tap into your discernment potential, work in your areas of strength.

"Never ignore a gut feeling, but never believe that it's enough."

Leadership, Questions & Socrates

Socrates believed that asking the right questions was always more important than proposing the right answers. Ask the questions that will stimulate thought among those who look to you for leadership and generate new insights regarding persistent problems.


Leadership doesn't always mean having the right answers. It means remaining firmly in control of the process for finding them.


Socrates believed that leaders need to be trained to question and probe as they lead. Leaders must understand that wisdom, real wisdom, lies in understanding and accepting the fact that you do not have all the answers and that in the long run you cannot bluff, intimidate or bully people into thinking that you do. The key is asking the right questions and then moving toward finding solutions within that framework.

Steve Forbes 3 Key Leadership Points

1. Character is the indispensable foundation upon which good leadership is built.
2. The willingness to consider other opinions and points-of-view shows strength and confidence, not weakness in a leader.
3. It is a fatal mistake to believe that the success of a business is based solely on the skills and charisma of just one individual and then rely on that person exclusively to get the job done.

Lessons from "Crossing The Rubicon"

As Caesar prepared to cross the river on the night of January 10 in 49 BC, he reflected in solitude for a while, then turned to his commanders and gave the order. When they reached the other side, his first words were Alea iacta est (the dice have been thrown). Since that fateful night, the phrase "crossing the Rubicon" has come to mean willingness to undertake a major and risky course of action from which there is no turning back. It is a move that requires foresight, strength of character and willingness to accept the consequences of one's actions, both good and bad. Caesar knew that he was about to plunge Rome into civil war and that as a result he would either become master of the ancient world or be killed. He was willing to accept either outcome.


"Crossing the rubicon" means embarking on a course of action from which you cannot turn back. What is the lesson here? Be sure to think before you act and to understand fully the implications of what you are about to do--the rewards as well as the costs for yourself and others.

7 Ways To Jumpstart Your Personal Development

1.Take responsibility. No one can do this for you. Not your parents. Not your spouse. Not your best friend. And not your employer. All of these people might be able to support you. However, none of them can do it for you. If you wait for your employer to offer assistance or to pay for the workshop, you might be waiting a long time. If you wait for your spouse to buy you the master class in photography you are interested in, you better be patient. Why must you do this for yourself, even for professional development? Because you are the person who benefits the most! Your development belongs to no one but y-o-u. If others offer assistance, dollars or opportunities, great – just don’t wait for that assistance to get started.

2.Create a learning focus. Long before asking, “What did I learn today?” ask yourself, “What do I want (or need) to learn today?” Human beings are learning beings – in some ways we can’t not learn. But to intensify your personal development beyond happenstance or serendipity, you must be clear on what matters most right now. Create a monthly, quarterly and/or annual learning focus. Yes, of course there will be lessons learned at random times, but having this (possibly daily) focus will help you consciously and intentionally learn the skills and knowledge that is most important to your growth right now.

3.Tie it to a powerful ‘why.’ Why do you want to learn? What value will you gain – be it personal satisfaction, pleasure or a leg up for the next promotion? Tie your learning focus to things that matter to you deeply. Reminding yourself of this why will help maintain your discipline, keep you motivated and improve the chances you keep learning.

4.Connect everything together. Now that you have a clear picture of what you are focused on learning along with your powerful ‘why;’ connect everything you read, experience and observe to that learning goal. For example, I lead a group of leaders through the development of a new skill each month. As I prepare and facilitate the learning of those leaders, I am thinking constantly about that topic/skill. This allows my subconscious mind to see examples, lessons and connections I would miss otherwise. Once you have your learning focus in view ask yourself, “How does this experience/situation/blog post/conversation/you-get-the-idea relate to what I need to learn?” This filter will help you learn much more, much faster!

5.Devote time. You can tell me (or yourself) that you want to learn and grow. But the real proof is in your focus and in your calendar. To build important and valuable skills requires you to invest energy, focus and money. And more importantly, you need to invest time. Getting on a serious personal/professional development plan will require you to invest your time differently. However busy you are, it is a matter of prioritizing your learning and growth higher on your list. Get used to it, and get going.

6.Get help. The best in any field or endeavor don’t get there alone. And perhaps more importantly, they can’t stay there alone! Help could be in the form of workshops, mentors and more. But almost certainly the most important help will be in the form of coaching. The coaching you need might be formal or informal, internal to your organization or external, free or paid (or some of all of these). If you are serious about your personal and professional development, then make coaching part of your plan.

7.Take action. All the good ideas in the world are great, but as long as they stay in your head, sit in your journal or remain on this page, that is all they are – ideas. Want to reap the benefits of developing yourself? Take action!

Leadership Strategies For Taking Charge

Thoughts for leaders from Warren Bennis:
1. Leadership is about character.
2. The capacity to generate and sustain trust is the central ingredient in leadership.
You can have the most glorious vision in the world and it won't mean a thing if there's low trust in the organization.
3. Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it.
Leadership is the wise use of this power. Leaders direct organizational changes that build confidence and empower their employees to seek new ways in doing things.
4. Many organizations tend to be overmanaged and underled.
They may excel in the ability to handle the daily routine, yet never question whether the routine should be done at all. There is a profound difference between management and leadership and both are important. "To manage" means "to bring about, to accomplish, to have charge of or responsibility for, to conduct." "Leading" is influencing, guiding in direction, course, action, opinion."
5. Leaders are perpetual learners.

General Tommy Franks Leadership Thoughts

The truly great ones leave a legacy of strong leaders whom have benefited from their example, their encouragement, and their mentoring. Great leaders develop other great leaders

During my months in combat, I’d come to understand that a soldier owes loyalty to his unit and to his boss. A leader must be able to count on the complete support of his subordinates. As Eric Antila climbed into that jeep and assumed full responsibility for my actions during the Battle of the Y Bridge, however, I realized that loyalty not only flows up the chain of command: It flows down as well.

“Soldiers have a lot of moving parts,” I began. “They require regular maintenance. They are human beings, not machines. They will do amazing things if they know you care about them.”

“What I’ve learned is that being in charge doesn’t automatically mean you know what’s going on. That’s going to change in this battery. “
“If a trooper comes to you with a problem, remember this: It’s your problem, and it’s my problem. We’re not going to lose good soldiers because we don’t give a rat’s ass about them as people.”

The Choice That Determines Influence

The Deep Choice That Determines Influence is this question:
Do I see people in front of me or do I see objects?

How you think and refer to someone will ultimately relate to how you receive and view someone.

Are we treating the needs of others as equal as our own? Or do we minimize them?

Thoughts taken from "Leadership and Self-Deception" Discussion Class