Category: Leadership Skills

Last night was the Women’s Final Four Championship in NCAA Basketball.  No surprises, the University of Connecticut—one of the most heavily favored teams to win a championship in the history of sports—won big!  Their Senior Class went 151-5 with 4 National Championships–a true dynasty, reminiscent of the UCLA Men’s basketball teams of the 1960s & 70s—winners of ten NCAA national championships over a 12-year period, including a record seven in a row (no other men’s basketball team has won more than two in a row!).

In the Summer of 2014, I purchased Coach Wooden’s Leadership Game Plan for Success to discuss with Cody (12 years old at the time).  We discussed some big questions, like “What does the Golden Rule mean to you?” and “How can we apply Wooden’s two sets of threes?”

• Never lie, cheat, or steal
• Don’t whine, complain, or make excuses

The book provided rich fodder for father-son dialogue, but there are a number of leadership lessons for all of us as well.  As Wooden’s subtitle suggests, he provides 12 lessons for extraordinary performance and personal excellence.

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Wait, was that a typo?  No, a little more than a year ago, I read an article entitled “Are you Humbitious enough to lead?”

“Humbition is one part humility and one part ambition,” wrote the author in the Leader to Leader Journal article. “We notice that by far the lion’s share of world-changing luminaries are humble people. They focus on the work, not themselves. They seek success—they are ambitious—but they are humbled when it arrives. They know that much of that success was luck, timing, and a thousand factors out of their personal control. They feel lucky, not all-powerful. [So] be ambitious. Be a leader. But do not belittle others in your pursuit of your ambitions. Raise them up instead. The biggest leader is the one washing the feet of the others.”

One of my leadership tips is to “Ask Questions…Don’t Give Answers.”  Nearly 6 months ago, I summarized John Maxwell’s Good Leaders Ask Great Questions.  I believe a leader can generate more creativity and innovation by relying on the team.  This takes humility.  The mark of humility is the Fruit of the Spirit Gentleness.  From the Greek Prautes (prah-OO-tace), it means leniency, generally in reference to that of a king or ruler.  This is not an expression of weakness; rather, gracious restraint and an outward expression of patience.  A Gentle Leader seeks to understand others.  Another good resource to consider is Lead with Humility:  12 Leadership Lessons from Pope Francis.

In November, I attended the Christian Leadership Alliance’s Leader2Leader Facilitation Training in Denver, Colorado.  During that training, I met some great leaders.  One was Jere Schertzer.  Jere said that he used this book as a platform to train leaders:  The Serving Leader: 5 Powerful Actions that will transform your team, your business, and your community by Ken Jennings & John Stahl-Wert (2003).  After reading it, I believe it’s particularly instructive to us as leaders shooting for the stars.

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