WHY Confidence is Contagious

There are certain truths to leadership. Every group has a leader.  Good effective leaders have both good character and skill traits.  The group will take on the personality of their leader.  Here is a great article on VCU Head men's basketball coach Shaka Smart a well respected and successful leader.  The five core values of his program are appreciation, enthusiasm, competitiveness, unselfishness, and accountability.  He breeds confidence and a positive growth mindset everyday into his players and his staff.  http://sportsworld.nbcsports.com/the-tao-of-shaka/

It is easy to see WHY Shaka is a leader and WHY people follow him.  The WHY of your leadership philosophy is your foundation.  We all usually spend a lot of time on how to lead but first we must know WHY we lead! Here are a few of my personal WHYs.

1.          Why are you a leader?

a.     PG

b.     Experience

c.      To grow myself and others. Demand the best from myself and those around me.

d.     Constant pursuit of professional and personal growth. 

e.     Willing to do the hard work and willing to fail and learn.

     2.          Why should people follow you?

a.     Want to learn, grow, and be challenged.

b.     Character: loyal, honest, hard work, trustworthy, fun, positive, honest

c.      Skill: development, experience in all facets of basketball, think ahead, initiative, prepared, resourceful

d.     Mindset: Grit, Guts, Gumption
e.   Care about others well being both personally and professionally

     3.          Why is Leadership important?

a.     Guides others through life and life decisions

b.     Guides family

c.      Establish Core values and vision

d.     Direction

e.     Defines Character

f.      Discipline

g.     Maximizes potential

h.     Demands excellence

i.       Significance vs success

j.       Empower, Mentor, Teach, Lead, Breed confidence

k.     Teach skill and character

WHERE is your leadership?

So far we have covered WHO, WHAT, WHEN, and today we look at the WHERE questions of your leadership philosophy. 

The WHO questions should of helped you define the type of person you are and WHO you want to lead and learn from.

The WHAT segment hopefully helped you define your role, your followers needs, and WHAT you believe about leadership.

Your WHEN answers should have helped you define times WHEN you are a good leader and times WHEN you need to be more effective.

Now it is time to reflect on WHERE you want to be a leader and WHERE  you need to grow as a leader. I have included a few of my personal answers to the questions.  I hope you are enjoying the process of developing your leadership philosophy. 

Here are the 4 WHERE questions:
 

     1.     Where are you a leader?

a.     Work

b.     Family

 

     2.     Where do you want to be as a leader?

a.     Be more polished and confident as a public speaker

b.     Head Coach

c.      Confident-Sure-Bold-Effective manager of people

     3.     Where do I need to grow in order to be where I want to be?

a.     Professional Network-network up

b.     Experience as Head Coach and decision maker

c.      Keep growing as a leader/teacher/mentor/coach

d.     Personal growth

     4.     Where do I want to take my group?

a.     PGs: vocal, confident, lead by example, close knit, trusting, maximize potential as players, leaders and people

 

The 3 WHENs of Leadership

Part of being a good leader is knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are and surrounding yourself with people who compliment those areas.  So far we have discussed the WHO and WHAT of developing your leadership philosophy, today, we are going to address the WHEN. 

Understanding WHEN you are at your best and WHEN you are not can help you recognize the areas you need to improve in as a leader and in what areas you excel. Also, understanding your WHEN helps you know what situations you may not be the most effective leader you can be.  You may also learn that you thrive during crisis situations!  Take some time and really be honest with yourself about when you are an effective leader and when you are not.  I have included a few of my personal answers to the questions down below. 

 

     1.     When do you need to lead?

a.     Teaching new concept.

b.   Group lacks direction.

c.   Feel uncertain or unsure on next steps. Help organize and create action plan.

d.   Group lacks confidence and needs a boost.

e.      Finding a solution to a problem.

 

     2.     When are you most effective at leading?

a.     When overprepared and clear plan.

b.     Comfortable with material.

c.      When things need positive vibe.

d.     When things get hard or tough.

     3.     When are you least effective when leading?

a.      Not confident in what teaching or feel unprepared.

b.     Teaching people who don’t care or listen.

c.     When angry.

d.      When task I don’t want to do or indifferent about.

 

The 5 WHAT questions

Hopefully you have spent some time thinking about the WHO questions of your leadership philosophy.  Remember the key to building anything great and sustainable is to have a solid foundation.  With that in mind let's discover more about the 5 WHAT questions needed to develop your leadership philosophy.   Take some quiet time to reflect and enjoy the process!  I have included a few of my own personal WHAT answers. 

     1.     What is your role?

a.     Make my boss' job easier and support decisions.

b.     Mentor younger coaches/peers/former players.

c.      Encourage, support and maximize potential of players mentally, physically & emotionally.

     2.     What do your followers need?

a.     Players: time, love, energy, direction, discipline, basketball skill set, life skills, emotional support

b.     Coaches: professional & personal growth, how to be a professional, direction, goals, mentors

     3.     What are your strengths?

a.     Continual Learner

b.     Consistent

c.      Calm, collected, fun

d.     Trust, loyal, respectful, professional

     4.     What are your weaknesses?

a.     Communication:can be too short on words  

b.     Controlled emotions: lack of immediate reaction can be seen as aloof

c.      Network Up better 

     5.     What do you believe to be true about Leadership?

a.     Leadership is about People

b.     Leadership is about relationships. People have to know you care, are competent and trustworthy.

c.     Groups want discipline and consistent accountability principles.

d.     Hard conversations usually lead to growth.

e.     There are different types of leadership styles:  by example, energy, vocal, & by position-title.

f.       For effective leadership everyone involved in the group has to be willing to receive info & communicate out.

g.     All groups have a leader.

h.     Everyone needs a coach and a cheerleader.

i.       Time and tone are important.

j.       Catch people doing things right.

k.     Praise publicly and criticize privately.

WHO are you?

The purpose of the next few blogs is to help you develop your leadership philosophy.  We will be breaking down the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, and HOW of leadership into smaller pieces to jump start your thinking.

Today we are going to reflect on the WHO questions.  Again, I strongly encourage you take some time and write down your answers. This should be an ongoing process as you develop your leadership philosophy.

Who are you? 
Who are you as a person? As a coach?  What principles guide you in your daily life? Motivations?

Here a couple of things from my personal list to give you an idea:
People first. Relationships are important to me. Make and find time for others.

Golden Rule: treat and talk to others as you would like to be treated.

Character: hard worker, loyal, trustworthy, giver, take initiative, resourceful, problem solver, prepared, fun, love to learn & grow, confident with humility

Skill: Teacher, leader, mentor, listening, compassion, empathy, demanding, personal and professional development

Who do you lead?
You can lead in many different areas.  Consider your roles at home, in the community, within your family and at work.

Who do you follow?
Thought leaders
Boss
Family
Mentors
Spiritual

Would love to hear any questions or please feel free to share any comments as you go about developing your leadership philosophy.  Hope you find the process helpful.

Chris Widener's Leadership Philosophy

 

 

Do you know who you are as a leader? What do your followers need from you as a leader? When are you most effective when leading?  Where do you want to be as a leader? Why should people follow you?  How does your group need to be lead?

 

Over the next two weeks I will be posting blogs that will break down the WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY and HOW of leadership into smaller pieces.  My hope is that you will take the time between posts to explore your own answers to these questions.  The purpose is to help you create a strong foundation of your leadership philosophy and principals. 

 

The program I will be sharing with you is from Chris Widener's Extraordinary Leader's 13 CD set. 

His program has really helped me define who I am as a leader and where I want to be as a leader.  I think before we begin the process we have to first understand what his philosophy of Leadership is.

 

 

Chris Widener’s Philosophy on Leadership   
Every group has a leader-a primary influencer(s).    
If you have 2 leaders then you will have 2 groups.

 

     Every group needs a “good” leader.

Can have a position/title leader but that does not make them a good leader.

Any person that has influence is a leader.

If there are not good leaders in your group then you need to make them good leaders.

     Effective leadership is character and skill.

     Leadership is long term.

     People choose to follow based on character and skills.

          Nice guys= good character & little to no skills

          Charlatan= poor character & good skills

          Short term leadership=poor character & excellent skills

 

      Leadership is based on relationships.

      Followers must have attachment to your character or your skills.

 

      Leadership is an opportunity; a given chance to make the world better for others,
      to lift others up, & to grow others

      Leadership is a responsibility: to make things better.

      Leadership is a privilege: attitude to gratitude.

      Leadership is for other people.

      Leadership must be BOLD!

      Dare to dream. Take risks. Bold decisions= bold actions.

     You want to cause action with greater commitment.
     Attempt to do great things.

      For Leadership to be effective long term it needs to be methodical, consistent, & purposeful.
Leadership must keep the group focused on the vision.
The natural tendency of a group is to move away from mission/vision/purpose.
Must be constant reminders of the vision.