photo by annadriel
A recent Towers Perrin post reveals a conversation the author had with former NFL coach Tony Dungy. Football is known for its gruff, abrupt, in-your-face style of ‘leadership,’ but Tony Dungy was far from that. He succinctly states his philosophy to leading and getting the best from his players three points (from the post):
- His parents were both teachers and they believed that it was their responsibility to make every student an “A” student. But not every student learns the same way, so you have to tailor your style to each individual to bring out the best in them.
- You have to make each player on the team understand that the good of the team is greater than that of any individual, and that you can only be successful as a team.
- You have to earn your players’ trust — this is foundational to the first two. They have to trust that your coaching and advice is what is best for them and for the collective team.
I like this for several reasons:
First, if your leadership style is inflexible and you see people as cogs in the wheel then you dramatically limit the field of potential individuals who could excel in the job. Finding good people is hard, why should we further constrain ourselves?
Secondly, you are limited by the boundaries of your own imagination and thought process. If you only know one way to go about things then you won’t be open-minded to new, potentially better approaches.
Further, by acknowledging that people are unique you are connecting with them on a very personal level. In order to motivate you have to know them. That connection is usually a two-way street. By taking the time to understand someone you’re proving you care about them. Reciprocation is then difficult not to grant. You wind up getting a lot more effort in return.
Finally, you don’t want your people to compete with each other too much. That devolves into a race to the bottom. It is far easier to push another down than it is to lift oneself up. Putting the team first means that you won’t reward pushing others down in order to shine.
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2 Comments
Thanks for the post. I love the last point for being a leader that Tony listed: You have to earn your players’ trust. This is not a simple or an easy task. It is something that can be taken away in a heartbeat. It's so delicate, yet so vital that every leader must remember to pay close attention to it. Again, thanks for the post.
Thank you for swinging by and contributing Alex. I appreciate it.
I certainly agree and think you nailed the key point. Trust is indeed delicate and I'd argue that it's even more important in a work environment than in a sporting event. On the football field it is difficult to actually compete against your teammates while we actively encourage that behavior in our corporate environment. It creates a situation where managers are looking over their shoulders and see the strongest members of their teams as threats. It devolves into fighting for individual credit rather than team credit. And it's far easier to make others look bad than it is to make oneself look good. Trust is difficult to give when the rewards are thrust upon the individual rather than the team.