7 Coaching Lessons from the World of Sport: #5

#5 Lead by example

So this is a bit of a given, but it had to be in there somewhere.

Larry Bird – originally a basketballer for the Boston Celtics, and then after retiring he became the NBA All Star Game Coach and also the NBA Coach of the Year in 1998.

I think it is no surprise to anyone the difference a leader can make with their behaviours, and how powerful it can be for the leader to still get their hands dirty from time to time, dive for that loose ball. We’ve all experienced as followers and members of a team how a leader can drive behaviour in a positive way or a negative way depending on their approach and demeanour.

Can we take it as well as dish it out? Linked to lesson #2 “Make everyone feel part of the same team”, it is important to really think about whether we are involving everyone, including ourselves, in the team activity.

Do we take on the responsibility for our team and their behaviour especially at critical times? Sharing the losses as well as the wins.

I read an interesting article about the fact that one of Ricky Ponting’s driving mantras is ‘Lead by example’. His stats showed that overall he actually batted even better when he was captaining. In 2005 Australia lost the Ashes, and Ponting has acknowledged that he took the responsibility for that loss as the team’s captain. He also then took on the responsibility to captain his team through to win at the next Ashes encounter, and not only that but to deliver a 5-0 whitewash.

He also made another specific comment which stood out to me “Good leaders know they can lead, they don’t just think they can.” Without being delusional, if we’re really going to lead successfully by example, do we need to back ourselves more?