Aldridge will sign a four-year, $80 million maximum contract with San Antonio, league source tells Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2015
Great leaders are a premium. There is a limited number of them. As a church, business, non-profit, or athletic organization, you simply cannot afford to needlessly lose great leaders.
On July 4th, the prized free agent of the 2015 NBA class LaMarcus Aldridge chose to take his talents to the San Antonio Spurs rather than the Los Angeles Lakers among others. What was fascinating were the reasons he rejected offers from the Lakers and existing team the Portland Trail Blazers.
The following are 9 Reasons Churches And Businesses Lose Great Leaders. All points were gleaned from Mike Bresnahan’s article in the Los Angeles Times unless otherwise noted.
- You Lose Great Leaders When They Feel Disrespected – Once basic financial concerns are satisfied, great leaders have a deep longing for influence, appreciation and respect. Sam Amick wrote in a USA Today article, “First it was Brandon Roy stealing his thunder, then Greg Oden before his ill-fated fall, and then this young and dynamic talent named Damian Lillard whose star rose far too quickly for Aldridge’s liking…he felt underappreciated — if not disrespected. He wanted top billing.”
- You Lose Great Leaders By Not Addressing Their Concerns – Few things are worse than answering questions no one is asking. When meeting with the Lakers, the team’s presentation focused on the entertainment and business benefits of playing with the team. Aldridge’s primary concern, however, was on the basketball components of the organization which took second billing.
- You Lose Great Leaders By Not Being Relevant – Great leaders do not want to be “passed by”. The source of Aldridge’s frustration with the Lakers was their poor use of analytics. Other teams, particularly the Houston Rockets, are on the cutting edge of this modern-day technological tool for player evaluation.
- You Lose Great Leaders By Being Noncommittal – Great leaders want a sense of direction and decisiveness. At the conclusion of an extended Q&A with the Lakers, they were noncommittal about the contract terms.
- You Lose Great Leaders When They Are Not A Priority – The Lakers also courted Greg Monroe, DeAndre Jordan and Kevin Love.
- You Lose Great Leaders By Not Surrounding Them With Other Great Leaders – Great leaders are attracted to other great leaders. Rather than playing with Kobe Bryant, Aldridge chose to align himself with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard. Good choice.
- You Lose Great Leaders When You Lack Stability – Great leaders have options. As a result, they will choose stability over instability every time. The Lakers currently appear in organizational disarray while the Spurs are the NBA’s model franchise.
- You Lose Great Leaders Because They Are Attracted To Even Better Leaders – The best want to play with the best. The San Antonio Spurs have head coach Gregg Popovich. Enough said.
- You Lose Great Leaders Because Others Want Them More Than You Do – Because they have options, great leaders must be courted and pursued. It took Coach Popovich multiple meetings but he was able to secure the services of Aldridge per the following tweet:
Suns made it very close, but second meeting w/ Popovich was immense to closing deal. Aldridge pushed further w/ questions, got his answers.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 4, 2015
What is one item from this list can you begin implementing today to ensure you do not needlessly lose a top leader?
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