17 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams

Every leader wants to be as successful as possible.  We want ourselves individually and our churches, teams and organizations collectively to exceed our full potential.  The question is, are there action steps we can take to go to the next level?

In the June 15th edition of Sports Illustrated, writer Lee Jenkins profiled NBA champion Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

As I read Jenkins’s article I gleaned the following 17 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams:

1. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Think Outside The Box – Kerr reads publications like The New Yorker.  Obviously, this is not usual material for the NBA community.
2. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Have Perspective – Kerr says, “There’s a machine that’s been built in this country around sports, and the machine is why make so much *#$% money…You have to separate the seriousness of your craft, working to achieve something special, while recognizing the absurdity of it all.”
3. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Focus On Little Things – Kerr felt his hand-writing was not fast enough during timeouts.  To get better he practiced scribbling, yes scribbling, during the off-season.
4. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Always Look Ahead – They look out the windshield, not the rearview mirror.  After becoming head coach, Kerr took down all posters of former players in the team’s facilities and replaced them with current players.
5. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Have Fun – Kerr sometimes cancelled practice in favor of bowling tournaments.
6. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Make Others Better – Kerr told the Warriors in his inaugural address, “You’re great.  We’re trying to make you better.”
7. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Prioritize Relationships With Those On Their Teams – Once he accepted the job as head coach, Kerr flew to each member of the team’s home to meet with them personally.
8. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Always Take The High Road – Kerr has never uttered a negative word about the team’s previous head coach Mark Jackson.
9. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Have Experienced Great Pain – Kerr’s father Malcolm, who was a political science professor at UCLA and one of the world’s leading authorities on the Middle East, was assassinated in 1984 by Islamic terrorists in Beirut.
10. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Create A Family Culture – This is something Kerr learned from his college coach, Arizona’s Lute Olsen.  Coach Olsen built a familial culture by grouping players in dorms and routinely having them over for dinner.
11. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Are Extravagantly Generous – Kerr’s special assistant Nick U’Ren says, “If you are good to others, it comes back around.”
12. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Prioritize People Development, Not Just Skill Development – Current Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin says of his former boss with the Phoenix Suns, “Basketball was the sum total of my life.  I threw myself into the job to such a degree that I had absolutely no balance whatsoever.  Steve made me understand, ‘You don’t have anything to prove.’  He made me comfortable living in a way that was meaningful to me.  He made me a radically better human being.”
13. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Do Not Waste Opportunity – While broadcasting games with TNT, Kerr would interview coaches before the game and take copious notes on cardboard found in his dry-cleaning.
14. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Give Those On Their Teams Clear Roles To Play – Rather than giving emotional pre-game speeches, San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich says of Kerr, “This is what you do well, this is what you do poorly, here’s your role.”
15. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Are Humorous – Humor is your friend.  A sense of humor disarms people and makes leaders more approachable.  Popovich goes on, “Add humor.  Always add humor.  Steve has a great sense of humor – refined, honest and self-depracating when it needs to be.”
16. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Value Diversity – Kerr has lived around the globe.  This has taught him to appreciate people of different backgrounds, cultures, ethnicities and experiences.
17. Highly Successful Leaders Who Build Great Teams Are Honest – Kerr removed former All-Star forward David Lee from the starting line-up.  Rather than disrupting team chemistry, Lee responded, “Of course, I’d love to play more, but I respect the way he’s handled it.  He’s been up front and honest, and that’s all you can ask.”

What is one thing from this list you can implement TODAY and improve as a leader?

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