This returns me to one of my favorite topics - reading. One of my favorite books is the Heath brothers' "Made to Stick". "Stick" teaches story telling as a process that improves communication...using the acronym SUCCESs.
S - Simple
U - Unexpected
C - Concrete
C - Credible
E - Emotional
S - Story
The Heaths share that stories have a long history in human development and teach technique, heritage, morals, values, and so forth. For example, I've shared the story about the impact that teachers can make.
Within our TEAMS, we know what we want but are we sharing it in a way that our TEAM knows and meets our expectations? For example, we might reasonably expect:
- Shared GOALS
- Shared PROCESS
- Optimal COMMUNICATION (coach-coach, coach-player, player-player, etc.)
- Shared VALUES (commitment, discipline, effort, sacrifice)
- Mental TOUGHNESS
For example, we could ask everyone to read a book and discuss the meaning. Alan Williams' "Teammates Matter" Jon Gordon's "The Hard Hat", and Coach Wooden's "A Game Plan for Life" are several excellent examples. We could have a discussion group highlighting way to be a leader (e.g. communication, modeling leadership, community service) and poor leadership (e.g. "This is who we are and this is who we are not.").
We can share examples from our lives about leaders we admired and why.
And we can use examples from the coaching community and their impact. Phil Ford discusses "Dean Smith Time", Brad Stevens attending the funeral of and eulogizing former player Andrew Smith, John Wooden inviting coaches to his home after his retirement, the meaning of Shaka Smart's "Love", Doc Rivers and "Ubuntu".
I know that I can and must do more to teach leadership across my team. Can we all?