Everyone needs a coach. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a basketball player, a tennis player, a gymnast or a bridge player. – Bill Gates
The Head Coach
The other day, I had an interesting conversation with one of my employees. Understand that at times, as a leader, you have to reflect on what is occurring within your team. It is similar to a football team following and trusting their coach. A coach’s job is tough. The coach’s job is to lead the team to victory by encouraging the team to take it to the next level. These encouragements shape the team and often fosters to help the individuals on that team become leaders themselves. The quarterback leads the team, but the quarterback is only as good as the team around him. The quarterback is only as good as the head coach that leads him, or the coach that teaches him how to throw the football. The running back is only good when he and the quarterback jive together. This is an important lesson for this game of life: you are only as good as the ones who are around you. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi
To be cohesive, we have to follow one another’s lead. If we break left and run the field, we have to trust those around us. We have to do our parts to make sure the teammate is able to catch the ball and run the goal. Sometimes in life, we have the wrong quarterback involved in trying to run our team to victory. Here’s the thing, you have to understand that what leadership involves. My experiences in leadership is that most often the leaders involved were not in the right mindset to lead the team to victory. “Football is like life – it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority. ” – Vince Lombardi
If it’s about money for you, and you did not have the trust or loyalty of the team. I encourage you to look at what team you are following or trying to create. It is important to understand who is at the helm and leading the team. Of the many leaders that I have followed, I have had very few that actually took an interest in me, as an individual. As a leader, you have to make sure that you care, love, and are concerned with the well-being of your team. You have to realize that those you lead or follow must be willing to do whatever it takes to benefit the team. As a leader, before you ask your teammate to pick up a broom and sweep the floor or make coffee, you must first be willing to do the same for them. You and your team must be willing to work together on a daily basis, and not just sit back and wait till the game is over and take all the glory for something that they did not help achieve. You must be able to take a look at those around you, trust your team, know that they are loyal to you, that they will foster loyalty and unity within the team, and hold true to the greater vision. Your team must always strive for self-growth, but the team must trust their leader. This trust is earned through slow and consistent follow through, and allows your team to follow behind you to the championships.
“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”
Vince Lombardi | Never Give Up | By Matthew L. Cox | Edited by Christina Millan
Copyright 2014
