These two videos share some important leadership concepts, most importantly that being a leader is far different than being a manager.
- What business are you in?
- Where are you going?
- What guides your journey?
- What are your goals?
Many of you know the term "servant leader". Although Robert Greenleaf coined the phrase, I associate it most with the late Don Meyer and with former Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett. They emphasized what I use as an acronym PUSH - T (passion, unity, servant leadership, humility, and thankfulness).
When I think about servant leadership, the word that comes to mind first is COMMUNITY. How do we build a better community? We need vision (how should the 'end state' look?), process (what's the path?), and clarity, but the key is ultimately followers who see ADDED VALUE and BUY-IN. We can envision buy-in without value (e.g. fascism, hate campaigns), adding value without enough buy-in (David Blatt's Cleveland Cavaliers), and lots of partial combinations.
As coaches, we have a lot of responsibility to our 'community'. We can effect powerful changes in our followers...helping them to better themselves and their broader community.
This article discusses 6 ways to be a servant leader. You can distill it down to connecting, communicating, caring, and inspiring. Here are a few excerpts:
Robert Greenleaf coined the word and has a simple test to determine if you’re a servant leader: “Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”
He (John Stockton) cherishes every possession, knowing that each play is an opportunity for a great screen, cut and pass. Since he plays like it’s the NBA finals in every pick-up game, you’re forced to either match his level of intensity or go home.
Leadership is not theory, it’s the culmination of all the little things you say and do for others.