The Team Leadership Report

Do not fear failure. Successful people use failure as a way to learn and a way to practice. Do not view anything as failure, rather a necessary steppingstone to success. Do not ignore your health; it's your future. Healthy eating, daily exercise, and peaceful living today, will help ensure you can enjoy tomorrow. Do not worry about improving others; improve yourself. Do not allow negativity from others or group failures to discourage or distract you. Your own destiny must be your focus. Do not give up. Refuse to quit. This is the only way your efforts can become fully realized. Do not think like a follower. Think like a leader. Leaders take responsibility for where they are. Do not allow emotions to dictate your reactions. Rise above them by becoming determined to remain calm during all circumstances. Do not participate in conduct today that will weigh heavy on the conscience tomorrow. Do not worry. Worry is a slow unnecessary drink of poison. --The Coaching and Leadership Journal ...

Risk Analysis. When a person is having trouble making a decision ask him to conduct a risk analysis. Ask what the potential payoff is for making a specific decision on a scale of 0 to 10. Then ask for the risk that occurs for making the same decision on a scale from 0-10.  Stakeholdering. Help the person you are coaching determine who needs to be considered before taking action. You can ask, “Who will be affected by your action or decision?” Have the person you are coaching write down each person and determine what needs to take place to address the needs or include the person’s ideas in the change or decision. Values Check. Ask the person you are coaching to tell you what he really values. You may also want to ask the person to prioritize the values. Sweet Spot. This is a process of getting the person you are coaching to think about where he needs to focus energy. It will help the person find something that inspires and motivates him to action.  Telescope. Ask the person ...

Brimming with malapropism and lopsided logic, the late Yogi Berra's often funny sayings can provide useful leadership insights. Here are some of his quotes and their lessons. You can observe a lot by just watching. Do not close yourself off from the people you are leading. It was impossible to get a conversation going; everybody was talking too much. Good teams speak with one voice. If the fans don't come out to the ballpark, you can't stop them. You can't force team members to do things. Get them to buy first. If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer. Transparency is crucial to being a good leader. This requires knowing what you don't know rather than faking it.  Anyone who is popular is bound to be disliked. Popularity has always bred jealousy. Leaders must beware of this happening within a team. Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. Leaders should get all the facts before acting on things that may affect their team members....

A new leader’s primary objective ought to be building trust with the people they will lead. Trust is the foundation of leadership. Trust is an attitude that allows people to rely on and place confidence in other people. Trust acts as emotional glue, holding together leaders and followers.  “Do my people trust me?” is the central question of leadership, and leaders must continually monitor the level of trust that exists on their team.  In the words of Warren Bennis “trust cannot be acquired but must be earned. It is given by followers and without it, the leader can’t function.” A prerequisite to earning trust is self-confidence. The leader who wavers indecisively and projects self-doubt has no chance to win the backing of followers. Leaders who are secure in their abilities, put others at ease and invite their trust.   Here are 3 ways to build trust: Show respect. Followers are like mirrors; they reflect back the level of trust that’s shown to them. Be dependable. Onc...

Respect: The greater the respect the easier the buy-in from your players. Relationships: Get to know your team; talk to your players in good times and bad; develop a trust with your players.  Curiosity: Successful people in any business have a curiosity about their field. They want to know what the best are doing and how that can relate to them. Ability to motivate: Read what is needed for your team and each player on a daily basis.  Choose the right job: No one can be successful at a place that does not have or cannot create an environment to succeed.  —The Coaching and Leadership Journal

In the late 1970’s Bill Walsh took over the leadership of the San Francisco 49’ers. Within two years, he turned a team that had been a doormat into a dynasty of NFL champions. Here was his formula: Resist the urge to clean house: Give yourself time to evaluate existing talent and give the team time to learn what you’re looking for. Those who can supply it will be worth your patience. Seize control from the start. A committee can save a sinking ship. Make sure all major decisions go through you. Take inventory of assets and obstacles. You need to know what you’ve got before you can play. List the team’s pluses and minuses, including personnel, attitudes, administration, and perceptions.  Find the hidden gems. Look for raw talent, not just a solid track record. Quarterback Joe Montana was a third-round draft pick, small and inconsistent. But Walsh saw Montana’s potential when he rallied Notre Dame to win the 1979 Cotton Bowl. Walsh’s theory: One miracle can become a life skill with ...

One of the toughest things to figure out is when to let go of something that is important to you. When do you finally give up on a project, an employee, a goal, or an action plan that just isn’t working? Short answer: when all hope for the desired outcome has been exhausted.  Hope is one of the greatest virtues in life, right up there with faith and love. But hope is not a fairy tale wish; it is bedrock, and you should be able to order your life with it at your side. Hope means investing time and energy toward results that you have solid reason to believe can be achieved. It is not hope to invest time and energy in a goal that has no forces acting upon it to bring it about. That is stagnation.  It is a waste of time, and time is ultimately what your life and work are about. Getting rid of the painful problem has the added benefit of making room for a positive alternative. In fact, new things that actually have hope for the future cannot appear until you get rid of what was tak...

In their quest for improvement many coaches often become too “x” and “o” oriented—they go to clinics, debate new strategies, devour literature, etc. In their obsession with the technical side of their game, they sometimes overlook the other vital aspects of coaching: philosophy, organization, methodology and team building. The point to remember is that whereas the technical side of coaching varies from sport to sport and even within a given sport, the methodology of exceptional coaches exhibits great uniformity. The following traits distinguish the superior coaches: Superior coaches are drill oriented. They believe that nothing is more important in the preparation of an individual or a team than the extensive use of efficient drills. What is an efficient drill? It is one that accurately reproduces the specific competitive situation and teaches the individual the proper reaction pattern and technique with which to respond to a recognized stimulus.  Superior coaches are goal-oriente...

 It’s always easier to find fault than to build up. Builders dedicate years to structures that can be destroyed in minutes by fire, natural disasters, and vandals. Your people are much the same. When you honor someone’s contributions in front of their teammates in a distinguished way, you build people. When you condemn them in front of their teammates, you destroy them.  Use recognition liberally and your disparaging comments sparingly. Trust and confidence are built over time and with great care. They can be destroyed as quickly as any structure ever built. It may take years to rebuild that trust again. Moments when you acknowledge people help you build solid and valuable relationships.  Take care to reserve sharp comments and criticism for one-on-one meetings. Recognition is public; criticism is private. --The Coaching and Leadership Journal

It may be impossible to train people to be proficient at everything Instead, we should be encouraging our team members to always play to their strengths. Good coaches know that we train dogs, monkeys and lions but we educate people. 'Real' coaches know that the key to being a successful coach is in: Evaluating talent. Recruiting/attracting talent. Educating talented people as to how to most effectively Use that talent through full speed practice and simulated game situations. Holding that talented person accountable for their actions and performance. Rewarding and constructively coaching that talented person by investing in one-on-one time together. —The Coaching and Leadership Journal

The team is an extension of the coaching staff.  Find leaders with the right mental approach. Find positive leaders.  Roles & goals. Develop an awareness of the spiritual, social, academic, athletic, social and economic goals of each of your players.  Players play to their personality and selfishness is  the last of the great personality traits people acquire. You can never get back to learning if they think they know all the answers. A few self-motivated players who care more about the team than themselves can make the session. Before a team can be aggressive, tough and quick physically, they must be aggressive, tough and quick mentally. Don’t ever be predictable as a coach, as the team should react to you. Teams and some individuals sometimes think they have arrived. Think win at all times and your total preparation will carry you through. Complacency is the forerunner of mediocrity. You can never work too hard on attitudes, effort and technique. Don’t over-coa...

Prime your principles instead of policing your policies. Rules tend to show up because principles are not clear or trusted. When you know that people have bought into standards, you can give them freedom for decisions and behaviors. If this alignment doesn’t exist, you must micromanage with regulations, expending much more energy in the long run Any new team needs to be more conscious of defining and expressing their collective values. Here are a few of examples of values that are beneficial to any team: Consistently challenge yourselves to play in the bigger game. In day-to-day interactions, be directed by curiosity instead of control, which means create an environment that welcomes questions without a complete authoritarian atmosphere.  Make it is safe for all of the members of the team to explore, express and move on without ridicule. Support creative, conscious risk taking. Be respectfully polite to each other. “Team principles” can often be like “motherhood and apple pie,” wit...

  Nelson Mandela was a master storyteller. While talking to a group of very influential folks about investing in South Africa. Not once did he mention rates of return, gross profits, or tax benefits. He simply told the story of his country. Sure, the investors would pat their pockets, but that’s not what they were talking about when they left the room. They were abuzz with the impact their investments would have on future generations.  That’s a key to effective story telling: Make your listeners feel not only generous but also like the heroes of a great story. People aren’t moved by numbers. They can’t identify with facts and figures. Data is soulless. You have to narrate your missions and your team’s purpose into a story that resonates with your people’s hearts before their minds.  ---The Coaching and Leadership Journal

Here's a list of separators that former NBA coach Kevin Eastman says make players great: They have tremendous focus on the floor and whenever a coach is talking. They want to know anything a coach can give them that will improve their game. They are always willing to learn. They want to get their work in every day. They go every bit as hard in practices as they do the games. They stay on the practice floor or in the drill until they get it right. They know the little things often separate them from the rest of the players in the league; they pay attention to details. They can’t stand players who don’t work. They very seldom sit out of practices. They want to hear the truth. They don’t mind being corrected and coached when they know the coach is right and is telling them the truth.  They are committed to all aspects of their game, their skills, their bodies, their training, their conditioning, the food they eat...everything. They hold themselves personally accountable. They will als...

  Competition is key to developing players.  The only practice environment in which you truly develop a player is in a competitive arena. Usually a championship team is built on a strong defense. That is something you can bring to every game. A great attack is always going to be inconsistent - at least on the scoreboard - that's the nature of the game. You can never be fit enough for this game. One of the most unfortunate things I see when identifying youth players is the girl who is told over the years how great she is. By the time she's a high school freshman, she starts to believe it. By her senior year, she's fizzled out. Then there's her counterpart—the girl waiting in the wings who quietly and with determination decides she's going to make something of herself. Invariably, this humble, hardworking girl is the one who becomes the real player. --The Coaching and Leadership Journal, December 2012

Santa Claus is recognized around the world as a symbol of love, caring, and generosity throughout the Christmas season. Having to smile and be jolly everyday when you're wearing the same thick, hot, red-wool suit that itches like crazy is no easy task. In the spirit of the season here are eight proven leadership truths of Santa which enables him to get the most from everyone on the team and pulls off his amazing yearly feat without fail. Build a wonderful workshop. Create a great environment. Make the mission the main thing. Choose your reindeer wisely. Select and promote the best and brightest. Once you have brought them on board then it is all about finding out where they fit best to pull your sleigh. Make a list and check it twice. Get organized today; not tomorrow and then plan your work and work your plan. Listen to the elves. Pay attention to how your team members perceive you. Get beyond the red wagons. Change happens so deal with it and help your team members deal with i...

Arguably no other coach in history is as closely tied to the world of leadership than the man known as Coach K. Duke’s School of Business has a center on Leadership & Ethics named after him. He does speaking gigs for corporations. He has written five books on leadership and hosts a radio show on the topic. Coach K talked about his leadership approach with Sim Sitkin, a Duke professor and the faculty director of the leadership center that bears Krzyzewski’s name. Below is a summary of that conversation:  Adjust your strategy to your team.  A hallmark of Krzyzewski’s approach is that he shifts his system each year to his players, rather than shoe-horning his players into his systems. “I try to adjust my leadership based on who I have to help me lead the team.” Be your best player’s best friend. “It is true that your best player can lead you to the promised land, but your most talented player can also lead you to the junk pile. Their outsized influence on the team means that...

Leaders are ALWAYS learning.  Leaders champion change.  Leaders communicate powerfully.  Leaders take pride in building relationships. Leaders look to develop others.  Leaders keep it simple.  Leaders influence others and desire that they become successful. Leaders are always thinking of innovation and understand that if their organization stays static it will die. Leaders value everyone's opinion and create environments for teamwork. Leaders solve problems, and make decisions.  Leaders take responsibility for the good and the bad.  Leaders set goals and support goal achievement.  - -The Coaching and Leadership Journal

  One way to develop consistency in your program is to try using “The Rule of Five”  approach. One of the greatest coaches of all time, Bobby Bowden built a football dynasty using this approach.  He said you should pick out five fundamentals your team needs to improve upon. Next, select five drills that emphasize each fundamental, and then do these drills five days in a row. This 5-5-5 concept makes up the “Rule-Of-Five” philosophy.  --The Coaching and Leadership Journal

It’s the month of Thanksgiving so with that in mind here is something that bears repeating. A leader who expresses gratitude toward a subordinate can increase confidence in ways that cannot be measured. Gratitude can wash away doubt and set people up for success. Expressing gratitude is really the art of noticing — noticing what others do and how it helps you and your team. Leading with an attitude of gratitude, can build confidence in others, improve productivity, foster execution and develop positive relationships on a team. Here are five tips for leading through gratitude. Combine gratitude and feedback. Providing team members with frequent, specific feedback is a critical teaching tool. Prefacing feedback with “I want to thank you for …” builds trust and camaraderie. Be specific and authentic. For gratitude to be believable and effective it needs to be true. Offer specific thanks, “Thank you for staying late every night this week to work on your free throws,” not “Thanks for worki...