“Why not me?” Why not us?”
Fabulous words uttered by the Seahawk’s quarterback, Russell Wilson, to his teammates prior to the conclusion of the 2013 season.
First spoken by his late father, who encouraged Wilson to look beyond his height and find his brilliance, these words might well be used by any person or organization that has felt “less than” in some way.
As an avid sports fan, I watched Sunday night’s big game expecting to be entertained, and came away with some amazing lessons, as well.
Preparation is key. Both teams were prepared and ready for the game, but only one understood their opponents well enough to stop them at every turn.
Communication is underrated and a bad start can leave you behind your goals right from the start. No doubt Manning and his whole front line is replaying that first snap over and over, wondering how differently the game might have turned out had that miscommunication not occurred.
As a leader, you set the tone and the passion of your team. Pete Carroll’s emotional engagement with his players was clear, and just as clear, was their response to it. Enthusiasm, right from the top down, sets the stage for how committed your team members will be.
Treat your team members as though each of them is critical to the mission. Not every player will be a star all the time, but if you’ve coached them well, your organization will be stronger because of each of your team members.
For me, I think the biggest takeaway from the big game was that winners never let their guard down, they don’t rest on their laurels or get too overconfident before the goal is reached.
Great leaders need great skills. Sometimes, we need to transform ourselves into the leader we’d like to become.
If your team isn’t playing as well as you’d like or you would like to maintain your team’s success, check out our upcomingTransformational Leadership Forum. We all need mid-course corrections, on occasion. I hope to see you there!
Visit us at www.boxeradvisors.com for more information on how we can help you polish your leadership skills.
Boxer Advisors is a full-service consulting, training and coaching firm with more than 50 professional consultants, facilitators, and coaches and carefully selected partners providing services to Federal agencies and Fortune 1000 companies since 1996. Contact us today to learn more.
Photo credit: ROBERT SABO/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
This is a great perspective on how we can look at sports for leadership lessons. Very timely for the Olympics right now.
Great Article!