Almost any team has one or two absolute go-getters. Whether it’s out of passion, commitment or habit, they’re going to show up half an hour early, probably after a good night’s sleep and a nutritious breakfast, bringing their best ideas and plenty of energy to carry them out.
Other employees need a little push, at least from time to time, and the best leaders are prepared to provide it.
Pride can keep us from being effective leaders.
For example, here are some phrases that can pose difficulties to many of us when our ego gets in the way. Great leaders, however, understand their importance and master them early on.
Time flies! You know how everyone’s always saying, “seize the moment!”? Of course there are others who say, “the moment seizes us.”
Either way, our culture has embedded in us the fear of missing out, or #FOMO as it’s trending now. It drives leaders and employees into continual striving and life with an “every-day I’m hustlin’” mentality.
Have you seen the commercials for the latest movies out on DVD? I would highly recommend McFarland, USA. It’s a sports movie based on a true story and features a group of kids who fall outside the mainstream, a coach with issues, some long odds, and—well, not to give away the ending, but they manage to surprise a lot of people, including themselves.
In this case, the coach (played by Kevin Costner) is a fired high school football coach and PE teacher who finds a job in an impoverished area of central California, where most of his students are from families of impoverished agricultural workers.
“I hate firing people. My heart always wonders if I could have done more to make it work, or if I should have given them another chance. But my head knows that I cannot run a profitable business AND employ people who don’t meet the standards of the company.”
As harsh as that may sound, that leader is entirely correct. At some point, it becomes obvious that a team member or colleague isn’t making the cut, no matter how many opportunities they are given. And while we tend to look at firing someone in a negative light, it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way for all business leaders.
If you follow college basketball, there’s no better time of year than March to see leadership characteristics. There are few sporting events that bring the excitement and drama of the NCAA tourney.
And if you’re someone who thinks about leadership, you may—as I often do—keep a particular eye on the coaching. It’s an area that always seems to draw legendary personalities, from Bobby Knight’s fiery temper to Pat Summitt’s icy stare, from Dean Smith’s fatherly attention to John Wooden’s philosophies.
Recently it was family movie night at the Kingsley house. We decided to watch Disney’s Big Hero 6, which had just won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film.
Aside from being entertaining—which almost goes without saying for a Disney film—Big Hero 6 has some great leadership messages for children. Science is not just a positive force but a cool pursuit, and education and good thinking ultimately solve major problems. The group of brainy young heroes is racially diverse and includes girls as well as boys.
If you haven’t read Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly, you may want to pick up a copy. Brown talks about the power of vulnerability within businesses, leadership, and personal relationships. She explains how sadly common it is to find business leaders who lead through shaming others (the opposite of encouraging).
One example she gave was an executive who regularly rated his employees on one of two big white boards outside his office. The list separated his company’s workforce in two categories: the losers and the winners. Such outright shaming crippled the growth and success of the company and only pushed employees to leave and work for the competition.
In the days since the death of legendary University of North Carolina coach Dean Smith, countless stories have made their way into print, on the air, and in social media. We’ve heard about his extraordinary career, the 879 wins that gave him the Division I men’s record at the time. We’ve heard about his emphasis on loyalty and teamwork that has come to be known as the Carolina Way. We’ve heard from his former players—including his best-known protégé, Michael Jordan—how he inspired them to be better people, and from his colleagues and neighbors about his huge heart and spirit.
My own connection with Smith is secondhand: My father, who coached basketball for more than 20 years, occasionally attended coaching clinics taught by Smith. He always returned impressed by Smith’s expertise and leadership strength, and just as impressed with his demeanor. “Class” is the word I most remember hearing Dad use to describe him.
For many of us — especially those who had lost count of the polar vortexes by mid-January — winter can’t end soon enough this year. But the transition is rarely an orderly one.
It often starts with a deceptively sunny day in February. Everybody breaks out their light jackets and starts talking about taking walks at lunch, and then a couple of days later comes a blast of freezing temperatures and new snow, which in turn gives way to chilly rain and slush. People trot out the old joke about “if you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.”
That’s the nature of most transition. Even when you know you’re moving steadily toward the new, progress can feel halting and unpredictable in the short term.