8 Qualities That Make Great Bosses Unforgettable

I was forwarded a great article this week by Jeff Haden on LinkedIn about what qualities make a great boss unforgettable.  He states, "In short, memorable bosses inspire others to achieve their dreams: by words, by actions, and most importantly, by example."  

You can read the whole article at http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140826123205-20017018-8-qualities-that-make-great-bosses-unforgettable?trk=mta-lnk

Here is a shortened version of his article.  

1. They believe the unbelievable.

Memorable bosses expect more -- from themselves and from others. Then they show you how to get there. And they bring you along for what turns out to be an unbelievable ride.

2. They see opportunity in instability and uncertainty.

Memorable bosses see instability and uncertainty not as a barrier but as an enabler. They reorganize, reshape, and re-engineer to reassure, motivate, and inspire -- and in the process make the organization much stronger.

3. They wear their emotions on their sleeves.

Memorable bosses are highly professional and yet also openly human. They show sincere appreciation for hard work and extra effort. They show sincere disappointment -- not in others, but in themselves. They celebrate, they empathize, they worry.

Professionalism is admirable. Professionalism -- with a healthy blend of humanity -- is inspiring.

4. They protect others from the bus.

Memorable bosses see the bus coming and pull their employees out of the way often without the employee knowing until much, much later... if ever, because memorable bossesnever try to take credit.

And if they can't, they take the hit. (And later speak privately to the employee in question.)

5. They’ve been there, done that... and still do that.

That’s why no matter what they may have accomplished in the past, memorable bosses are never too good to roll up their sleeves, get dirty, and do the “grunt” work. No job is ever too menial, no task ever too unskilled or boring.

6. They lead by permission, not authority.

Memorable bosses lead because their employees want them to lead. Their employees are motivated and inspired by the person, not the title.

Through their words and actions they cause employees feel they work with, not for, a boss. Many bosses don’t even recognize there’s a difference... but memorable bosses do.

7. They embrace a larger purpose.

A memorable boss works to achieve company goals -- and achieves more than other bosses -- but also works to serve a larger purpose: to advance the careers of employees, to rescue struggling employees, to instill a sense of pride and self-worth in others. They aren’t just remembered for nuts and bolts achievements but for helping others on a personal and individual level.

8. They take real, not fake risks.

Memorable bosses stand out because they are willing to take an unpopular stand, take an unpopular step, accept the discomfort of ignoring the status quo, and risk sailing uncharted waters.

They take real risks not for the sake of risk but for the sake of the reward they believe possible. And by their example they inspire others to take risks in order to achieve whatthey believe is possible.

Networking Nuggets

http://www.risingcoacheselite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Rising-Coaches-Conference-Notes-July-2014-3.pdf

A quick thank you to Lindsay Scarlatelli and Trey Meyer from Miami of Ohio for sharing with me their notes from the 2014 Rising Coaches Elite conference in Las Vegas. Down below are some great networking nuggets.

Chris Hollender Mississippi State

• Learn one or two things from everyone you meet.
• Be yourself, introduce yourself to others, and hand write notes to people.
• It's not always about the job, it's usually about the PEOPLE.

Kevin Sutton Georgetown

• Write and reach out to 25 people you don't know, 25 people you just met, 25 people you know and 25 people outside of your profession once a week.

Adam Cohen Vanderbilt

• Your assistant coaches are going to get you your next job, not your head coach.
• Write letters, send clinic notes, send film to coaches you want to connect with.  Get to know who you want to know.

From AD Panel:

• It is not who you know, it is who knows you.

Chris Carlson WCC Associate Commissioner for MBB

• Become a specialist in something.
• Be a sparkling conversationalist.
• Write letters to people you know and people you don't know.
• Be a campus ambassador. Be active and sincere.
• Join a toastmasters group.

James Brown ALFA Worldwide LTD

• Create cheerleaders. People who talk about you when you are not around. People that are always delivering a positive message about you.
• Reconsider who you associate yourself with.
• Perfect a 90 second elevator speech. One where you will be remembered positively.
• If people can not get by your appearance then they will never get to the substance.

Coaching Thoughts from Rising Coaches Elite

http://www.risingcoacheselite.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Rising-Coaches-Conference-Notes-July-2014-3.pdf

A quick thank you to Lindsay Scarlatelli and Trey Meyer from Miami of Ohio for sharing with me  their notes from the 2014 Rising Coaches Elite conference in Las Vegas.  Down below are my takeaways from a coaching perspective.  There were also great networking nuggets that I will share in my next post.

Chris Babcock Philadelphia 76ers

• Pick the brains of your players.  You can learn more from your players than the coaches around you.
• A coaches job is to build confidence.

Chris Hollender Mississippi State

• Work on yourself everyday.
• You are teaching the game of basketball and life.  Have passion and hold yourself to a high standard.
• Exercise daily.

Kevin Sutton Georgetown

• Build up your trust equity within people.
• Our players teach us, as much as we teach them.  It's a give and take relationship.
• Dream every day about he job you aspire to have.
• Know your own definition of success.

Adam Cohen Vanderbilt

• Don't be jealous of other coaches and their paths.

Jamie Dixon Pittsburg

• Do anything to be around good coaches, regardless of where it is.
• Put yourself around good people and learn. Trust.
• There are no set patterns or one way to do things.

Jack Murphy Northern Arizona

• Find a way to make yourself valuable in the basketball world.
• You have to coach what you know and what you believe in.

Frank Martin South Carolina

• Teach through coaching.
• Words to live by:
• Honesty-don't be a "yes" person
• Loyalty-don't crack the dam by not being loyal
• Trust-don't have people looking over their shoulder
• Love-genuine and real love.

Once you are honest, you can have loyalty. Once you have loyalty, people will trust.  Once you trust, you can love.  When you love, you can overcome anything.

Rashon Burno Florida

• It is not what you know, it's what you can teach and communicate to your players.

From AD Panel:

• When looking to hire a head coach, AD's put names into 3 buckets:
• people they know personally
• people who they know what they have done/accomplished
• other names they hear over time
• If you have talent, you can be taught.  Talent is character, discipline, and dedication.

Dale Clayton Nations of Coaches

• Know why you want to coach.
• The why determines the how.
• Relationships stand the test of time.  Not winning.
• A coach will impact more lives in one year than most will in a decade.

Andy Farrell Southwest Mississippi CC

• Have a plan and purpose and stick with it.
• Workout, pray, read, watch film, talk to people (rely on peer counsel).
• Your time will come. Greatness is still in store for the faithful.

Body Language

http://www.coachcal.com/about-cal/cals-books/

 

In Players First John Calipari talks about how basketball is an intimate game with coaches and players forming their own tight knit family. In these families we know when someone is having a bad day, frustrated, or having a great day without anyone saying a word. These families are very in tune with each others non-verbal cues.

 

As a coach I think one of the hardest habits to break is bad body language.  It's a shoulder shrug or looking down when you are corrected.  It's that pouty look or the stomp off the floor when a player is taken out of a game.  All these reactions are read internally by both coaches and players without a spoken word.  I think it is very important that coaches educate their players that how they carry themselves and their demeanor speaks volumes to everyone around them.  The unspoken can say a lot more than the spoken word.

 

Calipari shares how he was having trouble changing how one of his players carried himself after he missed a shot, when he was corrected, or when he was tired.  His mentor, Mike Gottfried, came and watched a practice and afterword he wrote a note of encouragement to the young man which went like this:

 "Alex, work hard to improve your body language.  Body language is a facial expression, slouching, dropping your head, how you stand, how you sit, how you speak.  Begin today.  God created you as a winner and he has big plans for you.  Work with Him. Be the best. When you feel like you want to drop your head, lift it up.  When you feel like slouching your body, stand up straight.  When you want to frown or have a sour face, smile.  When you feel like complaining, encourage someone else.  When someone corrects you, thank God because they care."

 

Coaches, remember that your actions and body language are being watched at every moment.  Players and staff are studying your reactions when someone makes a turnover or misses a shot.  Make sure you are modeling the behavior you want them to follow.  Just like we have to hold our players to a high standard, we need to make sure we are holding ourselves to that same standard. 

Power Posing

https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are

As a coach I am always observing body language.  We say a lot to others without saying much at all with our non-verbal cues.  When I go to watch games I am watching coaches and players body language during the action of the game, timeouts, and on the bench.  I think we are all aware of how body language influences the feelings and thoughts of those around us but what I found interesting is how body language impacts how we think and feel about ourselves.

Amy Cuddy, a social pyschologist, talks about this at her TED talk.  She addresses how certain power poses done for 2 minutes can change how our minds think. We can use our bodies to change our minds. Our minds can change our behaviors. Our behaviors can change our outcomes.  In essence we are using our body to trick our mind into being more confident.  We are using our body to fake it until we make it.  The goal though is to fake it until you become it.

The next time you are being evaluated say at a job interview, social event, or giving a speech try and take two minutes to yourself before the event and perform one of these high power poses. These power poses will impact your presence.

CEO Poses                                                                                                                                                  Superman Pose

Victory Pose



"Tiny tweeks lead to big changes."

BLOB sets

Thank you to Ben Kantor, the video coordinator at the University of Memphis for passing along two video links.  I have had the chance to work with Ben for several years and he is always looking for new plays and ideas.   You can follow him on twitter @CoachKantor


The first link is of the Dallas Mavericks:
A great option to screen for the inbounder into screen the screener action.  Also, a good counter with the inbounder popping high vs the curl to get into ball screen action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBcdEknHEic

 
The next set is from the Washington Wizards:
Great set for a shooter.  Fake flex action into a staggered screen.
Like the backpick option to get open easier.
Includes counter with a quick backscreen for the lob off staggered screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv3fkNY480k&feature=youtu.be​

 

How to spot a Master Teacher

 

I came across this great blog post by Daniel Coyle and wanted to share it.  It has some great insight on the qualities of master teachers.  Enjoy!

How to Spot a Master Teacher: A Field Guide « The Talent Code

You should read this story. It’s called “Every Good Boy Does Fine,” and it’s by Jeremy Denk, who happens to be a world-class pianist, but those details don’t really matter.

What matters is that his story shines a bright, useful light into the role of the master teacher. Denk looks back over his lifetime and gives us what amounts to a greatest-hits album of insights that apply to all of us. (Bonus: here’s a great video of Denk talking about the story.)
For instance, here’s Denk quoting Mr. Leland, one of his first teachers:

“Practicing a passage is not just repetition but really concentrating and burning every detail into your nervous system.”

Later, Mr. Leland wrote this in Denk’s practice notebook:

“Welcome to the summer during which you will learn to hate me. We are going to do precision drills. Exercises in perfection of fingering, notes, and rhythm…. every slip means back to the beginning.” That was the summer the music died [Denk writes]. Long, tedious lessons solely on scales, arpeggios, repeated notes, chords. But this misery proved a success.

For me, the best parts were the descriptions of Denk’s unfolding relationships with his teachers. He remembers them with a novelist’s eye, picking out the key attributes, the practical and emotional tools they used to help Denk grow his talent.

In fact, Denk’s teachers turn out to be a beautiful set of case studies for analyzing what qualities master teachers tend to possess. I’ll list a few here:

1) Master teachers love detail. They worship precision. They relish the small, careful, everyday move.

2) They devise spectacularly repetitive exercises to help develop that detail — and make those exercises seem not just worthwhile, but magical. As Denk writes, “Imagine that you are scrubbing the grout in your bathroom and are told that removing every last particle of mildew will somehow enable you to deliver the Gettysburg Address.”

3) They spend 90 percent of their time directing students toward what is plainly obvious. They spend the other 10 percent igniting imagination as to what is possible.

4) They walk a thin line between challenging and supporting. They destroy complacency without destroying confidence. This is tricky territory, and requires empathy and understanding on both sides — particularly when it comes to understanding the moment when it’s time to move on.

5) They do not teach lessons; they teach how to work. As Denk writes, they “ennoble the art of practice.” (Isn’t that a fantastic phrase?)

I also like how Denk shows what the master teachers are not; namely infallible superheroes. Master teachers are master teachers because they’re good learners, constantly reaching to build the ultimate skill: constructing the talents of others.

Working Hard vs Hustle

I am a big fan of the PGC program and one of my favorite videos is Dena Evans defining the difference between working hard and hustle.  Check out her video at
http://keystothegym.com/2012/05/02/hustle-vs-hard-work/


Working Hard

• anyone can do it. Even a hamster can work hard in a wheel.
• players work hard because they are motivated by fear of failure or looking bad.
• is future oriented...if i work hard now good things will happen.

Hustle

• is rare.
• is motivated by passion, purpose, and intelligence.
• is done by players who love to compete.
• is present oriented...being in the moment...right now.
• is fun. Players enjoy taking charges & diving for the loose ball for their team.

Self Improvement

Great leaders are continual learners and are always trying to improve themselves and those around them.  Take 5 minutes and take the "Continue/Stop/Start" exercise below.  The answers will help you change your behavior to become the person you want to be.  You can also get great feedback from those you work for or work with. 

Ask these three questions.

1. What is one thing you are now doing that you think you should continue doing?

2. What is one thing you are now doing that you think you should stop doing?

3. What is one thing you are not doing that you think you should start doing?