Two people run full speed at each other and crash into one another with nothing but some plastic armor to protect them. This is football simplified. Since we are just a couple weeks away from the Super Bowl I thought I’d highlight some legendary football coaches and the leadership lessons we can learn from them.
In this blog I am going to explore lessons from former USC and Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. Years ago I read his book Win Forever which I will draw on for some of his principles and how we can apply them to our leadership.
Know Your Philosophy
If you are a basketball fan, then you are familiar with legendary basketball coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. This was his philosophy in one diagram. During a period in between coaching jobs, Coach Carroll developed his own pyramid which defined his philosophy of leading and coaching.
Brene Brown in her book Dare to Lead emphasizes that “clear is kind.” When I meet one-on-one with leaders, I find that clarity can be the biggest challenge. If the leader is unclear where they are going, the team will be even less clear. As the leader get as clear as possible on where you are going and what are the key priorities (beyond money) in your organization. This philosophy will be your North Star to keep you pointed in the right direction and a roadmap for decisions along the way.
Use Competition as a Tool
“However successful you may be, there is always some element you can improve upon, some achievement to exceed.”
Pete Carroll
I have had the opportunity to be around successful teams when as a strength and conditioning coach. Becoming successful was a lot easier than staying successful. As Coach Carroll suggests above, there is always room for improvement. Keeping this in mind helps the team stay hungry.
How does competition fit into this? I would suggest the healthiest way to use competition is to get individuals to compete against themselves while working with one another toward a common goal they are attempting to achieve. When a leader uses competition to pit people against one another it creates backbiting and politicking. This will encourage an unhealthy team. Help team members set goals and allow them to see how they rank against one another, but make any reward tie to the team effort which maintains unity of purpose.
Practice
Recently I was preparing for a talk I was going to give to a group of professionals. I don’t enjoy talking to the wall or a camera, but I need to. There is part of me that wants to wing it, but I realized during this time that in my years of playing sports I had no problem preparing and practicing for the game because I knew it was necessary to perform at my best. This is no different with any other skill.
Leaders are busy, but they still need to create time to practice and grow. Maybe as a leader you need to improve your delegation skills, how you lead a meeting, or how you communicate. Take a minute and get feedback from your team on where you need to grow. This will show you where you need to practice. Maybe you need a coach to help you or invest in some sort of training. We all have areas for growth and practice helps us improve.
When you look at these three areas, which do you need to focus on this week? Put time in your calendar today to focus on the area you need to make a priority in order to lead and build a more productive team. Need help thinking into your leadership? Contact me for a no-cost-powerful coaching session. Lead well!
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