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 you are c

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. Once people are convin

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 trai

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 taking up th