In high school I had the good fortune of having very demanding and knowledgeable football coaches. Our head coach's name was Jim Haluska. He was one of the premier coaches in the state of Wisconsin. As I look back on my time with him I realize that he taught me many things about commitment to the team and physical and mental toughness.
Let me share one of his lessons with you.
One day after the sophomore football season Coach Haluska saw me on my way out the door after school. He asked me if I was coming to the voluntary work out that the football players were doing after school. I said that I would not be and that I was working out on my own at home. I really was working out on my own lifting weights quite a bit. That didn't sit very well with Coach and he went on to give me a good grilling about the need to work out with my friends in order to develop team unity and to work on some of the drills that he had specifically chosen for his football players. His grilling was also combined with an additional grilling by our offensive line coach. It went something like this, "Nicklaus doesn't have to work out with the team. He's working out on his own."You many consider this fairly minor but the point was made and I was at the next voluntary practice and everyone after that.
As I look back on that lesson I realized that it was very valuable to me and has helped me in helping my students and my staff prepare for bigger and better things.
Here's what I learned:
1. A team is a team. In order for a team to grow and experience their fullest potential the team members must spend time working together and getting to know each other better.
2. You need a mentor. A mentor is someone who has valuable experience and knowledge that you do not have.
3. You need to listen to your mentor. Many times students find someone who can really help them grow and become the person that they are capable of becoming but they choose to follow only the instructions that are comfortable to them. Following the instructions that you are comfortable with will only take you as far as your knowledge will allow. Why bother having a mentor if you don't allow him/her to give you the full benefit of their work and knowledge? Note: For parents of young students it's you who must guide your child in difficult commitment decisions and doing what's necessary to achieve remarkable results. Are you willing to trust your child's mentor and do the things that he/she recommends?
4. There must be sacrifice and commitment.
I'm thankful that my coaches gave me a hard time because they realized that I was making a mistake. I'm thankful that I listened.
Make the plan, work the plan,
Fred Nicklaus
Part Of The Team
Let's look at seven reasons why great leaders are not members of their team.
Reason 1: Vision
Jesus wasn't one of the apostles he was the reason that the apostles existed as apostles.
The leader has to create the vision that brings the team into existence and binds them together with a common sense of purpose. He or she is not part of that team they are above the team. The team exists to help the leader achieve the leader's vision.
Look into your history books to see who have had the greatest influences on the direction that the human race has gone and you will find it lists great individuals. You won't find any leaderless committees amongst the movers and shakers of our civilization.
Reason 2: Final Decision
Great leaders don't run their organizations on a majority rules system. Could you imagine Donald Trump running a referendum amongst his 20,000 employees to ask which way he should go on his major business decisions? If you think he does then "you're fired"!
Great leaders seek the counsel of their inner team but then they make the decision and the team abides by it.
Reason 3: Familiarity breeds Contempt
It is important that the leader keeps some distance between himself or herself and the other members of the team. They can remain friendly but they should no longer be drinking buddies.
This is where so many internally appointed managers have problems. Before they were appointed as manager they were part of the team socially as well as at work. After they are promoted they try to continue as just one of the social set away from the office. It doesn't work.
Leaders socialize with other leaders not with the team. If you don't have what it takes to do that then you are not ready for the job.
Reason 4: Hard Decisions
From time to time the leader will be required to make hard decisions that are not always popular with the team. One example of this is replacing a team member that is not up to scratch.
If the team is a good one then they have been trained to stick together and work as a unit. One potential problem with this is that they may not be objective in seeing the shortfall of one of their buddies. This sort of decision is best made from outside the team.
Reason 5: Inspiration
The leader has to be able to inspire the team. In order to do this well the leader has to be perceived by the team members as being above the team. The good leader sets a higher level of example than any team member and they too have to see their role as being above the team.
Reason 6: Disclosure
The good leader cannot always let the team know everything that is going on. The job of the team is to do their particular function to the best of their ability.
This is usually achieved by having them focus exclusively on that function and the desired outcome that was set by their leader. Giving the team too much information above and beyond that is likely to be an unwanted distraction to that focus.
The leader, on the other hand, may need to be aware of how their team's purpose fits into a larger picture. In order to keep these distractions away from the team the leader has to firmly believe that he or she is not part of that team and has no duty of disclosure to the team. The leader's duty is to the higher purpose.
Reason 7: Morale
Part of the leader's role is to ensure that there is good team morale. The leader has to always convey strength and positive attitude to the team, regardless of what they may know of the difficulties that exist. Again this is best achieved if the leader knows in their heart that they are above the team and part of a greater purpose.
Leadership can be a very rewarding thing but it is also more isolated than the role of team member. For this reason it is very beneficial for a leader to be a part of a mastermind group but that is a discussion for another time.
James Delrojo would like to help you by giving you his
Both Fred Nicklaus & James Delrojo are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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