This Teenager Has Some Serious Grown-Up Leadership Skills

A mistake we often make is our perception of who a great leader is. We have in our mind what a leader should look like, what a leader should sound like, and how a leader should act.
But John Maxwell challenges our preconceived notions when he famously said, “Leadership is influence. Nothing more. Nothing less.” As a result, great leaders come in all different shapes, sizes, ethnicities, personality types, educational backgrounds, parts of the world, and even ages.
During the month of June, I am looking at Apex Leaders. These are leaders who are the best at what they do. One such Apex Leader is high school senior Tate Martell of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, NV.
Martell, the nation’s top-ranked duel-threat quarterback, recently gave a verbal commitment to play for Head Coach Urban Meyer and the Ohio State University beginning in 2017.  It is what Martell did afterwards that revealed some serious grown-up leadership skills.
In the June 14^th USA Today, writers Josh Barnett and Cam Smith profiled the future OSU quarterback. The following are 5 Leadership Qualities From Tate Martell I gleaned from the article:

1. Leaders Must Be Decisive And Willing To Go First – This is one of the costs of leadership. In regard to the 2017 football recruiting class, 247Sports Composite shows 12 of the 15 of top duel threat quarterbacks have already made commitments. In addition, 22 of the 25 top pro-style quarterbacks have committed as well.
2. Leaders Embrace Competition – Quarterback guru Steve Clarkson says, “What schools try to do is recruit the best available quarterback for their system each and every year and let the best man win.”
3. Leaders Attract Other Leaders – Leaders do not want to be reduced to a level of mediocrity. The best want to play with the best. The best want to compete against the best. Currently, eight of the top 100 players in the 2017 recruiting class have already committed to OSU and more are expected.
4. Leaders Build A Strong Core Team – Maxwell also taught The Law Of The Inner Circle which says those closest to the leader determine the success of the leader. As a quarterback, Martell knows he needs high-quality, top-ranked wide receivers to throw to. He immediately reached out to the #1-ranked wideout Donovan Peoples-Jones of Detroit Cass Tech, #4-ranked Trevon Grimes of St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale), and former Bishop Gormon teammate, #5-ranked Tyjon Lindsey now with Centennial High School in Corona, CA.
5. Smart Leaders Leverage Social Media To Build Community – Notice the tweet used by Martell to recruit his potential teammates.

Only time will tell what type of leader Martell will eventually become. But he is off to a great start!

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