8 Habits Of Highly Effective Leaders Of Previously Bad Teams

June 8, 2013 0 Comments

“We try to almost make our guys feel indestructible.” – Terry Francona

Have you ever inherited an under-achieving team and was expected to reverse negative momentum and have them perform at much higher levels?  If so, did you have a plan or was your strategy “let’s fire everyone and start all over”?
Led by new manager Terry Francona, the Cleveland Indians are one the feel-good stories of this early baseball season.  The work Francona has done has been amazing!  Recently, Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated recently profiled this great leader.
As I read the article I gleaned eight steps that highly successful leaders take to improve the performance of previously bad teams.

1. Highly Successful Leaders Properly Evaluate Reality – Effective leaders do not expect perfection from those on their teams.  They do, however, expect maximum effort and to exceed their capacity and potential.
2. Highly Successful Leaders Care About Those On Their Team – People are the only thing that appreciates in a church or organization.  Francona says, “The idea is that when they walk through our doors, everybody – not just the guys that are our mainstays – deserves to be respected and feel wanted.  Not only do we have an obligation to know what they do on the field, and know how to make ‘em better, but to know who they are.”
3. Highly Successful Leaders Give Their Teams Confidence – Leaders are dealers of hope.  Each player on the Indians is positioned to play to their strengths.  Francona says, “You try to take the things your guys do well, and maximize them.  We don’t need to remind them of the things they don’t do well…We try to almost make our guys feel indestructible.”
4. Highly Successful Leaders Appreciate The Uniqueness Of Those On Their Team – Great leaders do not treat people equally but rather fairly.  GM Chris Antonetti says of Francona, “He looks for guys to be themselves, and he’s not asking them to be anything different.”
5. Highly Successful Leaders Expect Greatness – Though Francona obviously has a personal connection with his players, that does not limit his expectations.  Pitcher Justin Masterson noted, “He said, ‘Hey, it’s not always going to be perfect, but we’re going to do something special this year.’”
6. Highly Successful Leaders Value Today – Baseball is a long season.  You cannot get too high over wins or too low over losses because another game is scheduled to be in 24 hours.  Francona helps manage emotions by saying, “Whatever you do tonight is what’s important.”
7. Highly Successful Leaders Create A Sense Of Community – Playing baseball is fun again in Cleveland.  New Indian Nick Swisher notes, “The camaraderie factor is monstrous for us.”
8. Highly Successful Leaders Win – Lasting leaders produce results.  They strike oil or strike out (no pun intended).  Francona has managed two World Series championship teams in Boston and has Cleveland playing its best baseball in years.  Masterson acknowledges, “In the past we were trying to make things happen, but there was never much hope for success.  Now we’re here to win.”

Evaluate Reality, Care, Give Confidence, Appreciate Uniqueness, Expect Greatness, Value Today, Create A Sense Of Community, and Win.  If you do these eight things, you too may turn around a team’s performance and be a highly successful leader.