I grew up playing sports and have often looked back at those experiences to gain perspective on how a group of individuals might work together for a common goal. As I reflect on what caused certain teams to excel while others failed, I repeatedly come back to the subject of leadership. I believe the difference between an average team and an outstanding team is leadership.
To find out how obsessive I am on the subject of leadership, you only have to speak to my 12-year-old son. As my youngest, he’ll tell you that leadership is a topic that comes up often in our conversations and that it has become a running joke within the family. On the way to or from the ballpark, I’ll start to talk about what needs to happen or what needed to happen for his team to have a positive outcome. After years of these conversations, he can anticipate when I’m headed for the topic, and his usual response is, “Here comes the leadership speech.” In fact, there have been times that I’ve had him deliver it to me to make sure he’s been paying attention.
So why the obsession with leadership? Because I think it’s the difference between success and failure.
Leadership can take many different forms. In team sports, it can be the coach — that one person who can inspire his or her team to achieve results that seem beyond their collective capabilities. In business the coach might be analogous to the charismatic or visionary CEO — a leader who has a clear picture of how to achieve success, can clearly articulate it, and can inspire employees to work together to reach it. That one individual has the ability, through his or her position, to influence every single person in the organization.
CEOs as leaders are critical. They have the ability to set the vision and mission of their organizations. But just as it takes more than a good coach for a team to be successful, it takes more than a good CEO for an organization to be successful. Other members of the team must embrace the leadership role. Division and/or department heads are put into positions of leadership and can be critical to the organization’s success. But position alone doesn’t determine whether or not someone is a leader. Once in a position of leadership, people’s actions determine whether they are leaders. They must act as an extension of the CEO, and it’s crucial that their messages are aligned with those of their boss. A manager must show that she cares about the company’s goals and the welfare of the people in her charge.
Other leaders within the company also can emerge. A leader doesn’t have to be someone who is in a position of authority. The team member who leads by example has a great deal of impact on those around him. Leadership can take the form of hard work or helping others to be successful in their roles. Leadership can be as simple as demonstrating dedication to your job and the company that goes above and beyond the norm. Simply being positive when things are tough can demonstrate leadership.
In a difficult economy, leadership is more crucial than ever. It’s easy to be a leader when things are going great, but the true test of leadership comes when times are tough. This is a time to take a hard look at yourself and determine whether or not you want to be a leader. If you choose to be a leader, and I believe it is a choice, you must then look for ways to assume a leadership role. It may be as simple as helping a coworker achieve success. Once you’ve decided to be a leader, finding ways to lead won’t be hard.