Let me start by stating, I am not a big Kobe Bryant fan. While he is an unbelievable basketball talent, he could be doing so much more to help our community, country and the world. Besides the fact, he is not a Celtic.
A key leadership trait is the ability to recognize improvement when it does occur. I’ve had bosses in the past where once you are placed in the “penalty box” there is absolutely no way out and I promised myself I would never do this to others. This brings me back to Kobe. I get my information the same way most of us do – the evening news and post game interviews. The words used in these interviews are very telling.
In the immediate post Shaq era, Kobe would use the word “they” when talking about his team during an interview after a loss. He separated himself from the team. A few years later, he attempted to take a leadership role and started using the word “I” when talking about the team performance. While somewhat better, this sounded like he was the only guy out there. The last couple seasons Kobe has further tried to establish his role as a leader and the word “my” team is often used. Again, it is an improvement, but who wants to be on a team owned by one of the other players.
Kobe Bryant started in the NBA when he was eighteen years old. We would expect him to mature. It is my guess that when we hear him use the words “we” and “our” when talking about the team, there will be national championship parades in town again. Watch out Celtics.
Have you seen single words used in powerful leadership ways?
Monday, March 30, 2009
NBA role model? - Leaders whether we like it or not
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
13 comments:
""You" is an important word that hasn't been mentioned. It's a word that can be powerfully constructive or destructive. An example of a constructive usage is a description of a workshop that says, "Our goal is to help you take the next step to effectively applying the..." And example of destructive usage is, "You are always an idiot." "Our" is another word powerful word to bind yourself with others. The more someone like Kobe says, "Our execution was excellent," the more he binds himself to the other members of the team. Kobe will be a stronger leader when he takes the same responsibility for a loss as he does for a win. When a team wins, everyone wins. When a team loses, everyone fails. No exceptions."
"My favorite single words for leadership are when accepting blame, and then using the plural when describing success... Other than that, the only singular I have seen in powerful ways are when handing out praise: For example, "I should have prepared more for the fact that we would struggle with playing against Kobe and the Lakers because he is an awesome talent, but the adjustments "we" made helped our team over come this after halftime, primarily because "John Smith" really was able to step up and perform an amazing job covering Kobe in the second half." Hope this helps."
"No, it's rare to see single words used in powerful/effective leadership ways except talking about the failures of leadership or accepting the blame for an undesirable outcome. Kobe Bryant's journey & experience isn't so uncommon. Michael Jordon also struggled mightily when Chicago lost to Detroit for three consecutive years. They are world-class players and athletes; not role models. A rare few are natural leaders. Others improve with training, experience & age!!"
"One of my favorite examples was at a Reservation Economic Summit a few years back. We were all broken into groups to discuss topics important to Native American economic development. Then each group had a spokesperson to give a synopsis of the group's discussion. Because this forum had led to some very innovative solutions (that were implemented) in the past, it was not something to be taken lightly as is so often the case at events. I clearly remember one gentleman who stood before the gathering and talked for about 5 minutes about the group's discussion. Not one time did he use the words "I", my, me, etc. He always referred to the group as a whole - giving credit to the whole team for ideas. This may not sound like such a major accomplishment, but he was the only spokesperson that day who did that. Another thing that was remarkable was that several people noticed, and mentioned it."
"We should also consider that maybe what connects Kobe and Micheal is what makes them the leaders that they have become-Phil Jackson."
"Nice comments about NBA Role Models....I particularly liked John Farrell's response in that it almost sounds like he could be speaking about the San Antonio Spurs, of which I am a huge fan! Although, I am not a Kobe Bryant fan myself, in my opinion, I think he has been trying to be more of a leader on his team, even though we may not agree with the way he expresses himself. He is definitely a tremendous talent, of which he has been a thorn and a pain to the Spurs. From only seeing what the media and news say about Kobe, it looks like he's at least trying to be more mature and setting a good example in the NBA and the community. We know what his past has been, but everyone makes mistakes. It's learning from mistakes that can attribute to one becoming a good or better leader."
"I don't think much of the world of professional sports contributes much to the leadership skills of the athletes. Their environment creates a culture that separates them from the rest of the world and makes it difficult to learn anything new. However, they are very self-disciplined, at least in the area of the sport, so many develop those leadership skills later in life. Humility gives an individual an advantage developing leadership skills. People often follow individuals with integrity, desire for a common good, and commitment to a team goal or higher purpose. Humility makes it easier for someone to use "we" instead of "me" or "they." Unfortunately, I know this first hand, since I have so much trouble remembering it myself. Arrogance is a difficult habit to break. :-) Mike... Mike Henry www.vmhcorp.com"
"Hi There are two elements of analysis that I think are important. Take the other person's view...what is it that is causing my boss to set his priorities the way he does (mission, motivation, dictates from his boss, etc) and understand my own biases. It is the bias that creates internal blind spots and lack of understanding that creates external blind spots. From this, one may set priorities with confidence and some relatively higher level of stability. This allows the person to manage priorities rather than have priorities mange the person. Bottom line...the matrix is a worthwhile tool, but it is the result of analysis, not the begining. From a prioritization, one is able to provide resource - here mainly time - management. There is a cut line that occurs with prioritization...Tasks 1 to x with time available for 1 to n. What falls below the cut line must be recoginized to be below the line and when a new task is added at a priority above the line, the trade off must be articulated. This is the common failure of the implementation of the model...eventually everything migrates to the top without active management. Bob"
"Although sports stars have always enjoyed the admiration of our Nations children, I hardly think that they should ever be put in the same class as true leaders. A true leader does not lead a team to victory on a basketball court, or a football field but has the strength of character to challenge the status-quo, to stand for the beliefs that they hold dear...and not to tell anyone to follow them, but have followers by virtue of the drive of the convictions they have in their soul. Leaders do not choose to lead, they are chosen. So to the Michael Jordon's of the world whom millions of impressionable children emulate, who's parents enable that emulation by purchasing the merchandise they hawk and who's own star stuck admiration is evident in paying hundreds of dollars for seats to games, I say I admire the athletic ability but I see them as what they are, like movie stars...entertainers. The sooner that those among us start again to act like leaders and less like pop stars the sooner we will emerge from the current situation, the sooner that we stop placing pop stars on the pedestal as " leaders" the better we will all be."
"At the risk of being contrarion, a true leader may be on a sports team just as a true leader may be a general or a cook. Whether or not I would follow their leadership doesn't mean that they are not a good leader per se. I judge Michael Jordan on how he performs with his team and the results that they achieve. I judge General Petraeus by the results that he and his soldiers achieve and the time it takes them to get it done. I agree about the blind emulation without knowing about the person on the pedestal (Barack Obama?) however if I say that that a true leader doesn't or can't exist on a basketball court, then how can I say that one exists on my production floor? If I can inspire my "team" to do things that they wouldn't otherwise, or achieve heights that previously weren't attained then regardless of my profession I would constitue a leader. Whether kids get a haircut like me or wear the same type of shoes as me, doesn't make me any more or any less a leader to my team. Thanks for the opportunity to share. Regards."
"Phil Jackson also has yet to win anything without the best player(s) in any season. He however makes the team perform better by making the top players play their assigned roles & positions within the system! I like his style. He is fun. His interviews are fun too."
"John, nice observation of a microbehavior that can be very telling (Use of "we" vs. "they" or "I") Meg Wheatley quoted a pastor she heard once talking about how he would describe "etchic" or being ethical. He said very simply "Ethics is what happens when we decide we belong together" Notice the us of we Rich McLaughlin"
"Let's ask the question another way. How many championships have Michael and Kobe and Shaquille win with other coaches and then how many did they win with Phil?"
Post a Comment