"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?"

Organizational Secrets of the New England Patriots

•Respect opponents. Do not undermine your competition.
•It's leadership..not luck.
•Humble ownership. Top management sets the right direction.
•Consummate leadership is the key.
•Coachable players and staff.
•Look for overlooked talent.
•Focus on value; performance.
•Expectations. Past performance is no guarantee for future results.
•Everyone is a coach. Every member of an organization needs to take a lead.
•Being competitive is not a bad thing.
•The best marketing is a good product.


--Taken from James Lavin's book Management Secrets of the New England Patriots

Jeff Goins On 5 Ways To Connect

Jeff Goins on connecting and networking...Here's how to begin:

1. Quit hiding behind your work. Schedule some time in your day, week, or month for socializing. This is an investment.
2. Use social media as the means to an end, not the end itself. Reach out to people on Twitter and Facebook and ask to meet tem in person.
3. Take a stranger out to lunch or coffee... and pick up the bill.
4. Sign up for meetups, mixers, and conferences.
5. Start doing favors for people without expecting anything in return.

Strongholds That Keep Us From What We Want

Strongholds are the things that keep us from what we want.  Dr. Kevin Elko lists three Strongholds that hold us back in our lives.

3 Strongholds In Our Lives:

1. COMFORT--we always want to be comfortable.  Can't get what I want because there's discomfort out there.
2. APPROVAL--want everyone to like me.
3. NEED TO BE RIGHT--This will keep you from Peace & Happiness.  It's fighting because they're "right".  We must let go of the need to be right.  Pick your battles--big enough to fight and small enough to win.  If there's nothing to be gained, then there's no reason to fight.  Don't get sucked into another's need to simply be right.  If I win the argument, what did I win?  We all know people that challenge you to go nowhere.  Keep your focus to being a blessing to others instead of simply trying to be right.

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 Advice From Coach Gene Stallings

I have been fortunate to hear Coach Stallings speak several times.  While at one of his events he signed his book and said that this was the best advice he could offer to any coach.

John Maxwell's Thoughts On Results

In our Game Day Team Meeting we shared John Maxwell's, "Minute with Maxwell" and his thoughts on results.  We talked about Results from the perspective of our Process.

"Amazing that some people are surprised that

they aren't getting some positive return

out of their laziness..."

A few thoughts that we shared from Maxwell to the team:

1. Work Hard & Work Smart
2. Make a list of the things you want to see accomplished at the end of the game, the results you would like to experience.
3. What will you INTENTIONALLY do tonight that will give the results you desire to the at the end of the game.