14 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders

 

14 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders

I am spending part of this Memorial Day cleaning out some files.  Not surprisingly, I came across some great leadership items I want to pass on to you.
As I read analyzed the following quotes, I discovered a hidden common thread running throughout each.  The following are 14 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders:
Sports Illustrated September 2nd, 2013

• Highly Successful Leaders Do More Than Is Expected – Washington Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan says, “If you’ve gut a guy who’s got the talented arm and he can make off-scheduled plays – that gives you a chance to win Super Bowls.”
• Highly Successful Leaders Have A Successful Routine - Success is determined by your daily agenda.  Regarding gifted wide receiver Dez Bryant, teammate Jason Whitten says, “He’s attacking meetings the way he attacks practices and games.  He’s become a true pro.”  Quarterback Tony Romo adds, “Dez has made football a routine…There’s a lot of little stuff the job entails, and it can be tedious.  This is an all-day job.”
• Highly Successful Leaders Are Detail Oriented – Drew Brees says, “You become extra focused on the little things and the details, because (they’re) what is going to give you an edge.”

Sports Illustrated October 14th, 2012

• Highly Successful Leaders Deliver When It Matters Most – James Click says, “Clutch hits exist, clutch hitters do not.  There is no statistical evidence to support the idea that some hitters consistently perform better in situations defined as ‘clutch’ as compared to normal situations.  Good hitters are good clutch hitters; bad hitters are bad clutch hitters.”

Sports Illustrated January 27th

• Highly Successful Leaders Do Not Waste Experience – Future Hall of Famer Champ Bailey on learning from two Hall of Fame teammates playing the same position, seven different coaches, 10 position assistants and 11 defensive coordinators, “If a coach wants me to play more zone, I can do it.  More man, I can do it.  I can do it all.  It never hurt me to have all those coaches.  I wanted to pick those guys’ brains as much as I could.”

March 17th

• Highly Successful Leaders Have A Proper Perspective – Upon losing to Georgetown in their legendary NCAA Tournament opening-round game, former Princeton head coach Pete Carril reminded his team, “As bad as you feel, feeling this bad is better than never getting a chance to feel this bad.”  He adds, “90% of games are determined by circumstance.”
• Highly Successful Leaders See What People Could Be, Not Just What They Are – Albert Chen writes, “Scouting (for baseball) is one part detective, two parts imagination.”
• Highly Successful Leaders Have A Great Work Ethic – Cleveland Indians general manager says of second baseman Jason Kipnis, “We kept hearing story after story from our scouts about how competitive he was.  That drive came out when he worked extraordinarily hard to make the transition (from college outfielder to second base) work.”

April 21st

• Highly Successful Leaders Have A Great Attitude – Caddie Ted Scott says of Masters champion Bubba Watson, “He was flat as far as his attitude, taking the good with the bad.  That’s aha you have to do to win a major championship.  As soon as you get thinking the wrong way, you’re done.”

May 12th

• Highly Successful Leaders Continually Improve and Are Surrounded By A Great Team - Emerging NBA superstar John Wall gives us two practices,”Getting better teammates – and me improving – put it all together.”
• Highly Successful Leaders Took Time To Mature - Great leaders are made in a crockpot, not a microwave.  Legendary D.C. high school coach Stu Vetter says, “People anoint stars and leadership before they’ve really accomplished anything.  They expect young players to come in and be leaders and over people who might be 10 years older than they are.  That’s very difficult to do.”
• Highly Successful Leaders Learn From Other Highly Successful Leaders – Former Red Sox scout Craig Shipley says, “I’ve learned a lot from observing other scouts.  What you do is you understand what a big leaguer looks like, and then you try to see how close a 16-year-old is to the movements of a big leaguer.”

Fast Company June 2014

• Highly Successful Leaders Keep Things Simple – Dropbox designer Tim Van Damme says, “We have some of the most talented designers in the industry (working) to keep everything as simple as possible.”