Timeout for Leadership-your one-minute leadership idea

Tip Sheet #17

Be careful-you can become bigger than yourself

I hope that statement makes some sense to you.  I don’t think I am losing my mind quite yet.  When I was watching this past weekend’s play-off football games, I tend to study the coaches and players on the sidelines. It confirmed something that I have longed believed.  Namely, that you can become bigger than yourself.  And this is not a very good place to be.

Not only have I seen this play itself out on the sideline and in the post-game press conferences, I have seen this happen up close and personal frequently during my career.  It usually starts with a very positive and ambitious person.  For the sake of this argument let’s stay in the coaching ranks.  A coach comes into your school and takes over a losing program and through hard work and the right attitude turns the program around.  This individual becomes well liked by the community, staff, parents, and players.  But as every successful year adds up, the coach forgets what has gotten him to this success point.  He has forgotten about the collaboration with parents, colleagues and administrators that helped get him to be that winning coach.  He has forgotten about the players.  He has forgotten that in today’s world, he needs the players.  The players don’t need him.  That sounds backwards and perhaps it should not be that way but nonetheless, that is the way of the world today.  It was not like that way when I played and coached many years ago.

When a person becomes too big for themselves they become inflexible.  The coach may have the mentality that it is “my way or the highway”.  For whatever reason, he tries to be someone else.  The coach knows everything and neither cares about or wants your opinion.  The players have to believe in you and want to follow you.  You can use the same story to describe others leaders that you may know.

When all of these negative stars align, it is time for that person to go.  He has to leave.  He has now become poisonous to the students and the program. He is poisonous to the school and even the community. He has now become divisive. When the person does leave, he will have the opportunity to reinvent himself and maybe find that passion that burned so brightly at a different point in his career.  If we become bigger than ourselves, we quickly accelerate the end of our shelf life.  The end is near and it will not be a very happy or peaceful ending.

I have watched one of the professional coaches devolve over the years on television and he has now reached his point of no return. He just doesn’t know it yet.  He believes he is bigger than his program.    This same scenario also plays out with teachers, principals, co-curricular directors and yes, Board of Education members.

Stay humble.  Never forget how you attained success.  If is all about effort and attitude.  If you have been a steady reader of my blog, I know that you have heard it before.  Yes, it is that important.  It is all about effort and attitude!