13 Practices Of Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times

13 Practices Of Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times

“This is a tough team to manage.” – Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier

Are you facing a tough time for you as a leader?  Do the people you report to have unrealistic expectations?  Is your workplace filled with constant drama?  Are those on your team wasting their talent?  Are they undisciplined?  Have you done all you can as a leader yet there seems to be no loyalty to you?
If so, then you can relate to Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly.  Under the intense pressure of an ownership group with high expectations, Mattingly leads a team of high-priced, high-maintenance personalities.
In the June 18th edition of Sports Illustrated, the brilliant baseball writer Tom Verducci profiled the Dodgers manager.  Whether you lead a church, business, non-profit or athletic team, the following 13 Practices Of Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times will better equip you to lead during these trying times:

1. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Find Comfort In The Bible – Pressure, struggle and tough times drive leaders to their knees and into God’s Word.  Mattingly begins each day reading his Bible.  Verducci made note of its worn condition.  A Bible which is worn out is often reflective of a leader who is not.
2. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Must Teach Fundamentals – The Dodgers lead the league in running into the most outs on the bases.  In addition, their bullpen is second in the National League in walks and losses.  Great leaders address rebellion with discipline.  However, they address irresponsibility with training.  Leading during tough times requires you know the difference and prioritize training those on your team.
3. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Minimize Drama – Drama creates sideways energy and decreases productivity.  An unnamed rival general manager says, “The Dodgers have the most talent so what you root for with them is drama – internal drama.”
4. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Create Consistency – Consistency builds trust.  Mattingly says, “When I first took over I said I wanted a tough team.  Tough isn’t beating your chest and yelling and screaming.  Tough is getting ready to play every day…Can you trust them to come to the ballpark and be ready to play that night?  All 25 guys?”
5. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Are Resilient – Great leaders constantly deal with failure but keep coming back up for more.  In his Hall of Fame career, Mattingly has never appeared in a World Series during his over 3,400 games as a player, coach and manager.
6. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Often Face An Uncertain Future – Mattingly goes on, “It’s been a frustrating, tough year, honestly.  Because I think when you…come in basically as a lame duck with the payroll and the guys that you have, it puts you in a tough spot in the clubhouse…I like being there, but you don’t want to be anywhere you’re not wanted.”
7. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Bring Stability To Others – People who are insecure do not perform to their maximum potential.  Therefore, great leaders bring stability to those on their teams.  Mattingly reflected on his playing days, “I saw how instability affected a team and how guys talked.  They’d say, ‘Well, he’ll be gone soon,’ and they had no respect.”
8. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Develop Young Talent – Leaders must protect the future of their church or organization more than their past.  One of the ways this is done is by investing in young talent.  When Mattingly speaks of the 2nd-year player Yasiel Puig, he says, “I love the growth.  I love the development.  I love the talent.  I love the energy he plays with…That’s the best part of Yasiel. He loves playing.  He loves to win.  And some of the stuff he does on the field is incredible.”
9. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Install Healthy Processes And Systems – Systems are anything your team does more than once.  Putting healthy processes and systems in place will carry you through tough times and create positive momentum.  Mattingly told his team, “It’s about the process of winning.  You have enough talent.  Now if you go about your business the right way and hold yourself accountable, if you set those standards high, you’re going to win.”
10. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Maintain A Positive Attitude – Your attitude as a leader will determine your team’s altitude.  Mattingly had great insight when he said, “That interested me: the affect a manager could have.  The manager doesn’t change the way you play, but he affects the attitude, the whole atmosphere.”
11. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Add Leaders To Their Team – Followers will not see you through tough times, but leaders will.  Leaders multiply your mission and vision while making others better.  Mattingly reflected, “I’ve got to have guys in the locker room that it bothers them when we lose…I saw the middle-of-the-road guys, if they had a bunch of bad guys around them, they would drift the wrong way.  If you had enough good guys, [the middle guys] would fall on the good side of the fence and play the game right.”
12. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Build A Sustainable Plan – There is no success without succession.  Great leaders build lasting churches and organizations.  Mattingly acknowledged, “This organization has a chance to build something that’s really, really good for a really long time…Ownership talks about how we have to be good now.  But we also want to build a sustainable plan.”
13. Successful Leaders Facing Tough Times Do Not Neglect Their Familes But Rather Lean Into Them – Your family will love you when no one else will.  Your family will love you regardless of what happened at work today.  Clubhouse manager Mitch Poole says, “Look at Donnie’s office and you get an idea of the kind of guy he is.  It’s filled with pictures but none of himself.  He has a picture of his wife on his desk.  That’s it.”

Pastors and leaders, what additional things have learned about leading through difficult times?