TEACHER

Feb

2020

Leadership Lessons from Super Bowl Winners

This was the weekend many around America sat around the television and watched football. Whether they like the sport, watched a game all season, or even care about the results they watch the Super Bowl. Maybe they want to see the commercials and eat junk food with friends, and this is a great way to do it.

This Super Sunday I went to my bookshelf and the leadership lessons from five Super Bowl winning coaches over the past five decades. (The books are listed at the end of this post if you are curious.) While I revisited my notes, three guiding leadership concepts were consistent among each of these coaches that can help all leaders.

Clear Philosophy

The late Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers called it his “standard of performance” and Pete Carroll describes it as his “win forever” philosophy. Each of the other coaches may not have a formal structure, but they all were crystal clear of what they expected of themselves and those they led.

“You won’t be a successful leader if you don’t have a clear of what you believe, where you’re headed, and what you are willing to go to the mat for.” Don Shula

As the leader we must be crystal clear on what we expect. The hardest person to lead is ourselves therefore we must know what we expect of ourselves? Are we clear on that? As our values and vision are clear we can more clearly articulate them to those we lead.

Culture

“The culture you create permeates everything you touch.”

Tony Dungy

Leadership and culture. This is kind of a chicken and egg question. The leader influences culture, but the culture can eat the leader for lunch. Both Bill Walsh and Tony Dungy spoke to this idea of culture. As the leader of a team each knew the culture they created would impact every result and their players had both on and off the field.

When the philosophy and expectations are clear this establishes the groundwork for creating a specific culture. When these are unclear a potentially chaotic or toxic culture may be created. As leaders we either intentionally create a culture or it develops naturally out of how we lead.

“The culture precedes positive results . . . Champions behave like champions before their champions; they have a winning standard of performance before they are winners.”

Bill Walsh

Be A Teacher

Former Super Bowl champion coach of the New York Giants Bill Parcells said “be a teacher, not a drill sergeant,” but what does it mean? The same as all five of these coaches have said . . . teach. The legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden saw himself as a teacher above all else. As leaders we may see where we want to go and what we want done clearly. We may even see how to do it, but we must slow down, come alongside those we lead, and teach them.

“Be a teacher, not a drill sergeant.”

Bill Parcells

Ken Blanchard in his book Everyone’s A Coach with Don Shula provides some practical steps on how to be a teacher as a leader.

Tell people what you want them to do.
Show them what good performance looks like.
Let them do it.
Observe their performance.
Praise progress and/or redirect.

These are easy to read, but in order to implement them we must slow down, connect with those we lead and patiently walk the path with them. Eventually we end up multiplying our leadership and instead of developing followers we multiply leaders.

Winning a Super Bowl is not easy nor is leading any organization or team to top performance. As you look at these three areas, how can you improve in your leadership? Do you need a thinking partner to help you think into any of these areas? Contact me to explore a complimentary thinking partner session to help you raise your leadership level and improve your results. Lead Well.

Ken Blanchard & Don Shula Everyone’s A Coach

Bill Walsh The Score Takes Care of Itself

Pete Carroll Win Forever

Bill Parcells Finding a Way to Win

Tony Dungy The Mentor Leader

*Each of the above are affiliate links.

Jun

2018

What I learned from a Leader in Education

I sat in the classroom of a man who has fulfilled multiple roles in education. He recently allowed me to lead his classes through an experience of The Leadership Game, and he has also served as an administrative leader, sport coach, and leads this school’s Students in Action club within the school that helps students grow as leaders through engaging in public service projects.

As I sat there I had one question: what would you say are three keys to leadership? At first he gave a stock answer which I found to be excellent: value stakeholders, engage your people, and don’t micromanage. That took about one minute and then we had a more robust conversation on his simplified, yet profound answer to the question.

Relationships – This is the foundation for effective leadership. A leader may have a laid back style or may be very rigid and structured, but these are styles. The important principle is that the leader is a person who creates value for those he or she leads. Mr. Torres explained that a good leader will make sure the individuals he or she leads know they are cared about personally and the relationship is not purely transactional. For example, is the only interaction between student and teacher about getting work done or is there interaction around other interests in the student’s life? The stronger the relationship the more open and effective communication will be.
Clear Vision – Students in Action promotes the idea of thinking big to change the world. As we talked Mr. Torres discussed how this common language helps them maintain a clear vision on what they are attempting to accomplish. This clear vision has played out another way in his leadership through his involvement in theatrical productions. Each year he knows what the ultimate result will look like for his production, but he may emphasize various parts. For example if he doesn’t have superior talent or singing skills within his cast then the scenery will be emphasized to highlight that strength. He will look for where the cast is strong and feature that in alignment with the vision for the performance.
Motivation – As we talked, this topic came out in connection to the previous two concepts, but I find it deserves individual attention. I asked him to explain what he means by motivation. One of the first concepts he emphasized was the importance of listening. This skill is critical to knowing how to motivate those you lead because it helps you figure out where they want to go and how to get them there. Another key to motivating those he leads is helping resource them so they can build their skills and have small successes. These successes are celebrated and lead to increased confidence.

Many other great concepts came out of our time together, but one idea he shared captures his ideas of leadership in a succinct way. Does the leader ask “what do you want?” and want the best for you and help you develop as a person. This is the type of leader who gets clarity on the other person’s vision, values relationships, and will know how to motivate those he or she leads.

What about you? How are you doing in these areas at work and home? If you are a task-minded person do you need to consciously slow down to know the people around you? Do you need greater clarity on your vision or maybe listen better so you can motivate more effectively? Whatever the first step in your leadership growth is today may I encourage you to take it so you can be more effective both at work and home? Continue to lead well at work and home.