Here’s the email I wrote to Reno County Leadership Alumni on Monday, 4/1:
I don’t know if you caught any of yesterday’s Elite 8 action, but during the Louisville-Duke game, there was a graphic injury in the middle of the game that typically doesn’t happen in basketball. Both teams were affected. And, if you read headlines this AM, you know that Louisville ended up winning. Some discussion this AM centered on how Louisville’s coach, Rick Pitino exercised leadership to help his team win. I wondered in my mind how his leadership stacked up against KLC Leadership Principles, so here’s me making those connections.
1) Leadership is an activity, not a position. This team didn’t win merely because they had a coach. It wasn’t just because they had a coach that they were pushed in a direction to win. Evidently, the coach wielded some sort of activity toward his team.
2) Anyone can lead, anytime, anywhere. Again, it wasn’t up to the coach alone to say something to the team, but they did look to him as an authority. Undoubtedly, this team had to pull together. It wasn’t just one magic factor. It was this coach and team’s players and staff choosing to lead during this time at this game.
3) It starts with you and must engage others. All the players were visibly moved. They had to get themselves under control (including the coach who was visibly moved) so that they could best serve those they were engaging in acts of leadership.
4) Your purpose must be clear. It doesn’t take much to see that the halftime speech was purposeless. It probably wasn’t something vague or ho-hum. NO. There was something spoken from the heart and it was clear that they were going to function differently.
5) It’s risky. They could lose. If the coach engages in leadership that doesn’t work, there will be critique and push back. So it was very risky to step into acts of leadership in this situation and it appears to be a skillful intervention.
Undoubtedly, both coaches engaged in acts of leadership. Part of the challenge yesterday was just getting back to playing. But, I thought making some connections to this event might help us see how real to life these principles are. I hope they find you on the ground floor this AM. Step into acts of leadership and see if progress isn’t made in our community.
Also, 2 reminders:
1) Don’t forget to vote tomorrow, April 2 (that’s today).
2) The Leadership Reno County Alumni Association invites you to KFSA (1515 E. 30th) on Thursday, April 18 from 5-7PM. This will be a membership appreciation event as well as the Completion Ceremony for the 2013 Class. (You might also like them on Facebook/LRCAlumni).
Have a great week.