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Thursday, March 29, 2018

Fast Five: Becoming a Leader as a Player

Goal: Share ideas on developing player leadership
Reference: some ideas from HBR's 10 Must Reads on Leadership (summary)

Great organizations have distributed leadership as leadership occurs at every level. We should encourage all our players to become better leaders. Everyone can show more leadership although not all will become primary leaders. 

How do we grow leaders? Leaders embody established principles to serve teammates and their communities, earn respect by showing it, and find their voices. 

What is your bottom line? Everyone benefits from distributed leadership. OSU football coach Urban Meyer discusses his 10-80-10 principle. Ten percent of players are at the top, eighty percent in the middle, and another ten (unfortunately) near the bottom. He wants the top ten percent to 'drag' people from the middle into the top tier. How? For example, he demands that 'ten percenters' (team leaders) bring someone from the middle to workouts. 

Individual growth parallels organizational transformation. Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella was a sickly child with asthma and later tuberculosis. Part of his treatment involved painful 'spinal taps' where a doctor inserts a needle to remove fluid from the spinal canal. Initially, health workers restrained him during the procedures. But he encountered a physician who simply asked a nurse to hold Daniel's hand during the procedures, which then went smoothly and without pain. This inspired Daniel into medical training and later a career in the pharmaceutical industry where Novartis became a leader. Kindness became life-changing. 

Leaders are coachable, the extension of coaches. They buy in to the process, model excellence, and know their responsibilities AND others'

Leadership inspires. Leaders encourage teammates, bring and radiate energy, and raise the collective effort. Achievement starts with attitude, extends to choices, and grows through consistent work. 

Phil Jackson says, "basketball is sharing." Nobody should be a victim. Use your experience, tools, and values to enhance your influence and invest in your culture.

SPECIFICS 

Academics: effort and achievement
Collaboration: organize workouts with teammate(s)
Unselfishness: willing passer, go to the floor (dirty work), quality shots
Communication: verbal and nonverbal
Rotating leadership assignments: e.g. lead drills
Teaching opportunities: assigned brief topics 
Media: "Speaking Greatness" (praise teammates over self) 

Lagniappe: 


Game winner: Rip Middle, pass or shot options