Why Generous Leaders Always Have An Advantage

Today, athletic apparel company Under Armour signed Bryce Harper to what is believed to be a 10-year contract extension making it the richest endorsement deal in baseball history.  What I find fascinating is the company’s aggressiveness in acquiring the best player(s) in each sport.  Check out their client list.  Each are great leaders and provided are articles demonstrating their leadership skills:

• Golf’s Jordan Spieth – 7 Leadership Quotes And Lessons From Jordan Spieth
• Basketball’s Steph Curry – 16 Quotes On Faith And Leadership By Steph Curry
• Football’s Tom Brady and Cam Newton – 60 Leadership Quotes From Tom Brady And Peyton Manning and 10 Leadership Quotes And Practices Of Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton
• And also baseball’s best pitcher Clayton Kershaw – 25 Lessons On The Best Team Money Can Buy

Under Armour pays premium prices for these talented individuals.  As a company, they are extraordinarily generous.
But is it worth it?  What is the ROI for this aggressive company when they invest in top talent?  The answer – They project $5 billion in revenue this year.  Bottom line – Great leaders produce incredible results and more than pay for themselves.
Tight-fisted organizations will NEVER achieve the results they could have if they would just generously invested in top talent.  Generous organizations will always have an advantage.  This is because when having many options, top talent will always choose generous organizations.
So what makes Harper so desirable?  For answers, I went to a October 5th, 2015 Sports Illustrated article written by the great Tom Verducci.  The following are 3 Leadership Lessons We Learn From Bryce Harper I gleaned from Verducci’s profile of this iconic athlete:

1. Harper Follows A Routine With Great Discipline – Great leaders have a system they follow religiously.  He said, “I…stick with my routine.  That way I can just worry about getting through the baseball and not worry about where it’s going.”
2. Harper Keeps Things Very Simple – Since entering the MoneyBall era, teams THOROUGHLY pour over video and statistical data.  While aware of analytics, Harper asks Washington’s hitting coach Rick Schu just one question, “Does he (the opposing pitcher) have good control or bad control?”
3. Harper Was Productive Early In His Career – The best leaders produce the greatest results.  This is why they are worth the price.  General manager Mike Rizzo noted, “He was a historic player at (age) 19.  He was a historic player at 20, 21 – and he was never healthy in any of those seasons.  He his 22 home runs when he was 19 – and if that’s not a terrific start to a career.  I don’t know what is.”

I asked the question in the recent article 12 Things You Need To Know About Finding A Great Leader, are you willing to do what is necessary to acquire great leadership?  If so, your organization could achieve the results you always dreamed of.

Click HERE or on the image to the left and as a free gift for subscribing to this site, you can receive my new Ebook 1869 Leadership Quotes: Timeless Truths From 2015 Global Leadership Summit, That Church, REACT and Catalyst Conferences.  If applied, these insights will make you an exponentially better leader.  Enjoy!!!