Perhaps You Need A New Type Of Leader

Has your leadership culture become stale?  Do fresh ideas seem like a thing of the past?  Does your church, business, non-profit or athletic organization feel as though you are simply going through the motions?

If so, perhaps you need a new type of leader.

ESPN.com‘s Dana O’Neil wrote an interesting column on why NBA teams are looking for new types of leaders.  You can read O’Neil’s article by clicking here.  As I read his thoughts, I gleaned the 7 things you need to know when looking for a new type of leader:

1. People Are Craving A New Type Of Leader – An unnamed NBA executive said regarding open coaching opportunities, “Retread NBA coaches are going to be far less attractive moving forward.”
2. Organizations Need The Courage To Hire A New Type Of Leader – There is often not a proven track record of success for new type of leaders.  For instance, only two of the last eight coaches, P.J. Carlesimo and John Calipari, hired directly to the pros from the college ranks have made the play-offs.
3. New Leaders Need Legitimate Opportunities – Those eight coaches previously mentioned were all hired by poor teams.  They never had a chance to succeed.  Rick Pitino said, “If you go to the pros, you have to make sure you do what Phil Jackson did — go where you can win.”
4. New Leaders Will Bring Fresh Thinking – Boston Celtics head coach and former head man at Butler U. Brad Stevens said, “The people I met in the NBA, the ones with the front office and especially the coaches, were able to spend a lot of time evaluating the game, thinking about the game.”
5. Old Leaders Can Become Complacent – Experienced leaders must work hard to avoid getting in ruts.  New leaders are often hungry.  Former Florida Gator and new Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Billy Donovan said, “Choosing comfort, familiarity, that’s always easy to do. But I wanted to stretch myself.”
6. New Leaders Want New Challenges – Donovan continued saying, “The allure for me was just the opportunity to see what it’s like to coach against the very best of the best.”
7. New Leaders Are Often Well-Prepared For Their Assignments – Just because a leader is new does not mean he/she may need a long ramp up time.  New Chicago Bulls head coach spent 10 years as a NBA player along with two years as an assistant general manager.  He is well-prepared for the coaching rigors of the NBA.

Does your organization need a new type of leader?

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