Who You Are is How You Lead

A big thank you to Alex Thompson for recommending Dr. Jim Taylor's website to me this season.  He has some great insight on leadership and the psychology of performance.  I really enjoyed his blog post talking about Who You Are Is How You Lead.  I will share with you a few of my take aways but you can find the entire blog post at http://www.drjimtaylor.com/3.0/leader-person-lead/

Here are some excerpts and insights from his blog post: 

Leader-as-person is so vital because it is the foundation of everything you do as a leader. It starts with a fundamental question: “How can I lead from a position of respect, trust, and loyalty?” The answer to this question, and the basis for gaining the respect, trust, and loyalty of your team, is not in how you lead, but rather in the kind of person you are and the relationships you build with your team. For example, are you likable, calm, and supportive? Or are you angry, critical, and demanding? Or someone else entirely. Understanding who you are will help you figure out how you can best lead.

Roles of the leader: person, performer, team builder, decision maker, and change agent.

You are not capable of leading in ways that conflict with who you are.

If you are a screamer it will be hard for you to be quiet.  If you are quiet it will be hard for you to become a yeller. Some of us sweat the small stuff while some of us can let the small stuff roll off our back. Which one you do depends on you. Do not try and be someone you are not.  Embrace your authentic self and be true to who you are.  That is not to say that you do not have to learn and grow in your areas of weakness but do not try and become someone else just because you have seen them do it and it works for them.  You have to find what works for you.  Be honest with yourself and what your demeanor is in practice and during games.

Temperamental factors to consider: 

• Energy: What your natural energy level is. Are you relaxed or full of energy?

• Initial reaction: How you respond to new people and situations. Do you tend to dive in or observe first?

• Adaptability: How readily you adapt to change. Do you adjust easily or are you uncomfortable with and resistant to change?

• Mood: How generally happy or unhappy you are. Do you tend to view at yourself, others, and situations positively or negatively?

• Emotionality: How you respond to emotional situations. Do you react with strong emotions, either positive or negative, or are you more stoic?

Personality Traits that shape who you are and how you lead.

• Openness to experience: your receptivity to new and different people and situations. Are you creative, self-aware, prefer variety, and curious or are you prone to routine, have few interests, and tend to think and behave in predictable ways?

• Conscientiousness: How deliberate and careful you are. Are you detailed oriented, thorough, and organized or are you low-key, less focused and goal directed, and more relationship oriented?

• Sociability: How introverted or extraverted you are. Are you outgoing and social or are you more reserved and prefer being alone or one-on-one with people?

• Rigidity: How inflexible or flexible you are. Are you stubborn and resistant to others’ views or are you amenable and receptive to others?

• Impulsivity: How reactive you are to people and situations. Do you often act spontaneously without deliberate thinking or are you measured and methodical?

The values you adopt from your upbringing and life experiences are powerful influences on who you are because your values determine the choices you make, priorities you set in your life, and where and how you commit your time and energy. As this is true of you this is also true of your players.  Your players are a reflection of their upbringing and the basketball culture of their high school and club teams.

The attitudes and beliefs you hold about yourself, others, and the world also contribute to who you are.  Attitudes and beliefs shape how you perceive, interpret, decide, and act on all aspects of your leadership.

Your knowledge and skill sets impact who you are and how you lead. You will have a stronger voice in your strength areas.

Are you self-aware? How well do you know who you are? Do you know your Why, what drives you and inspires you?  I have spent a lot of time over the past few years really asking myself these questions and finally feel very confident in understanding why I am the person I am and why I coach the way I do.  I understand why my beliefs and values are important to me.  It is a process and I am still growing and changing everyday. 

Another important question to ask yourself is how others perceive you? For the past year I have been asking for feedback from others so that I can understand more about myself and honestly evaluate if I am doing a good job of being a leader, teacher and mentor.  Mike Neighbors, University of Washington Head Coach, mentioned a few years back at the final four about creating a folder of evidence that you are doing things right.  It has been one of the best ideas I have implemented into my daily life.  For example I keep notes, emails, texts, and cards that I receive from others that say I have had an impact or influence in their lives.  It also serves as a great reminder of why we coach. Start your evidence folder today!

I also purchased the book Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and did the online assessment to better help me understand how my emotions influence myself and others.  The test evaluates you in personal competence, social competence, self-awareness, and self-management.  It was my best purchase of the year.

Here are some more suggestions from Dr. Taylor on how to gain self-knowledge:

• Be mindful: Observe yourself in your various roles as a leader and evaluate your effectiveness;

• Ponder your existence: Sit down and consciously examine different aspects of who you are (using the information above) and how who you are influences how you lead;

• Ask for feedback: Seek out feedback from people you trust about how they see you and your leadership;

• Reading: There are many resources available to you, including books, articles, web sites, and blogs, that can help open your eyes to who you are and how you lead;

• Workshops: You can participate workshops led by trained professionals that can enable you to gain new insights about yourself and your leadership;

• Psychological and leadership assessment: There are many formal assessment tools (many on line) that you can self-administer that can tell you more about who you are and how you lead;

• Coaching or counseling: Work one-on-one with a trained professional to explore more deeply who you are and how you lead.

Start today in exploring your temperament, personality, values, attitude, beliefs, knowledge and skill set.  Take that information and study how it impacts your leadership.  It has been a great journey that has helped me grow as a person and as a coach.  Please let me know if I can help you in any way on your journey.