The Tribe Gathering -Midweek Motivation

“A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.”

– John Wooden

Who better to discuss the purpose of leadership than John Wooden. How many coaches and leaders have printed off and displayed his pyramid of success? The question I’d like to pose however, is how many leaders have done so while lacking both the cognition and conviction of the true purpose of leadership? If this applies to you, I’d like for you to know it’s not too late to make the shift from a transactional leader to that of a transcending leader. What many leaders who embrace Coach Wooden’s pyramid miss is the keystone, loyalty. Loyalty is a strong feeling of allegiance, but what is allegiance? It’s commitment of an individual to a group or cause. A commitment is a promise to be dedicated to a cause. And what is the cause of a leader? What are leaders dedicated to? What are they meant to promise? Your “main thing” lies in the answers to those questions. As stated in the introduction to this topic of being a water-carrier leader, a true servant, the main thing is to serve others. Without loyalty as your keystone the cost of YOUR success falls on the back of your subordinates as a burden rather than distributing the weight of responsibility for THEIR success and the success of the TEAM on your organization’s collective shoulders beginning with your willingness to “carry their water.” Below are some examples of types of leaders that are due for an update to their leadership ethos or to be put out to pasture. The choice is up to them.

The Win / Loss Column a.k.a The Bottom Line

Win at any cost, focused only on profit, and always result oriented, the win-loss column leader only sees the end result as success or failure rather than giving consideration to what their people endured to get to the finish line. This mentality and heart condition will get you to a finish line, but you’ll likely be standing there alone.

The Trophy Chaser

This mindset is only committed to the next gold sticker they can accumulate. The image and optics of the organization to the outside world are all that matter, while inside the organization the culture is rotten and there’s no psychological safety. The people within know they don’t matter and are only being exploited. They’re threatened and micro-managed until their motivation is eroded and they’re ultimately replaced. But someone else willingly joins the organization because, “look at all their trophies!” Meanwhile the trophy case is infested with termites and falling apart.

The Hall of Shame-r

Reputation, recognition, and demanded respect are the things most craved by these poor leaders. What do people think of me and how much are they willing to pay to hear what I think of myself? The Hall of Shame-r is self-serving and willing to manipulate their people for their name-sake. They degrade others in order to make themselves appear successful. Making empty promises without integrity is a second language for them. They demand conformity rather than encouraging excellence. Fear is their motivational tool of choice. They’re doing a great job of leading! Just ask them to tell you so.

The Crutch

Nothing is every their fault. Lose? They’ve never lost. They’ve just been a victim of others not doing their job. Failure is a death sentence rather than an opportunity to find out what they’re made of. They lean on excuses as their crutch and pass the buck every chance they get. They say things like, “All they need is for people to buy in to their processes and they’ll be successful,” “This is the way we’ve always done it,” and “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broken.” Defend the culture? Nah that’s someone else’s job. Uphold expectations? “That’s too much work. Their job is simply to do their job. Stuck in the past and rooted in mediocrity are their mindset, motivation, and means. But that’s someone else’s problem.

These leadership pathways are obsolete and toxic. Sadly, they do still exist and are practiced on a daily basis by many. If any of these apply to you, there’s good news. You can change. If you’re reading this newsletter, then you’re on the right path. Servant leadership is a pathway that is attainable, but requires sincerity at its origin. In the week ahead we’ll discuss self growth as a follow up to our most recent podcast. If you desire a paradigm shift in your leadership methods and philosophy, but aren’t quite sure where to start, begin by looking in the mirror and taking inventory. What are you about? Who are you as a person? As we’ve stated in previous publications, servant leadership begins with you. If you’re struggling with this process we’d love to help you. Here’s a question I’ll leave with you to reflect on:

I’m so excited about Sunday’s publication of our newsletter. I’m going to share with you the rewards of a career rooted in servanthood and 3 things I learned while eating lunch with my girls (my team). Until then, finish this week strong by crossing the finish line at full speed. In the next 48 hours do something for someone you lead that they can’t pay back. Put everything down and lean in to what one of your team members has to say. Leave your wants and needs at your desk, get up, and go help alleviate someone’s burdens. Go “carry some water.”

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If you’d like to connect with us and allow us to help you begin a servant leadership pathway, level up your organization’s culture, or learn some tools you can use for both of these, then email us at [email protected]