Apex Leaders are the most successful of all leaders. The tops in their field. The very best at what they do. One of the best ways to become a highly successful leader is to learn from these outliers.
FYI, to know more about the unique qualities of these individuals, click 16 Characteristics Of Apex Leadership.
The following are 33 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders I gleaned from interviews with leaders who are the very best at what they do:
On the January 11, 2016 Hannah Storm EPSN special, she interviewed the two head coaches about to compete for college football’s championship, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. The following are their leadership insights:
- Highly Successful Leaders Prioritize Their Family – “Both of us share the importance of relationships, family.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Prioritize Their Family Even More As They Get Older – “The older you get the more important those things get to you.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Learn From Younger Leaders – “The players change and times change. I’m always trying to learn more from younger people in our profession who do things a different way.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Are Continual Learners – “We’re trying to learn all the time and grow.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Take On Tremendous Responsibility – “When you talk about adolescent children. He (Swinney) has 115. We have 130 plus all the other people in the organization.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Make Great Decisions – “Just because this is a bigger game doesn’t mean the decisions are any different.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Know Past Success Does Not Ensure Future Success – “You never want them to look at the scoreboard. A scoreboard is the definition of the history of what happened, even during a game. It has nothing to do with what’s going to happen in the future, on the next play or the next year of your life.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Develop Their Staffs – “Those guys (Alabama players) changing and evolving from the time they came until the time they left and seeing the change, those are the kind of things that make me happy.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Have Their Priorities Right – “There are things in life more important than the game.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Study Other Highly Successful Leaders – “As a young coach you try to study everybody.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Manage Difficult Situations With Consistency – “He’s (Saban) been doing this a long time. How he manages the staff, manages players, responds to difficult situations because we’re all presented with difficult situations and he’s been as consistent as anybody in doing those things. And it’s not easy to do, especially at a place like University Alabama where everything matters.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Are Role Models – “He’s been an excellent role model as far as things I try to do in our program.”
- Highly Successful Leaders’ Biggest Challenge Is The Daily Grind – “The biggest challenge is the daily grind you have being the head coach.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Face Problems Every Day Of Their Leadership – “There’s a 100 problems a day. Everyday. And you have to be able to manage that and bring that energy.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Take Care Of Their Physical Health – “He takes great care of himself.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Create Alignment – “(He) keeps all headed in one direction, singleness of purpose, one heartbeat.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Have Proper Perspective – “Life gives you perspective. And that’s what I try to give our guys – good perspective.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Are Teachers – “If we teach these guys the right things, if we instill the right values in them, if we’re graduating these guys, if we’re truly developing men, then we’re going to win.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Enjoy The Journey – “This is a game, and yes it’s a big game…but let’s keep a good healthy perspective as we go on this journey. And let’s enjoy it.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Know Success Is Fleeting – “I’ve been on a national championship team and it’s such a fleeting moment but it can’t be the greatest thing you accomplish in your life. You have to just enjoy the journey.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Are Not Defined By Their Success – “Don’t be defined by a scoreboard.”
The Herd With Colin Cowherd September 16th interview with legendary sportscaster Al Michaels:
- Highly Successful Leaders Transition Well – “The minute he (Tim McCarver) stepped off the field he was not in the ex-jock business. He was in the broadcast business.”
Just prior to Oakland Raiders cornerback Charles Woodson‘s retirement announcement, the October 12, 2005 Move The Sticks profiled the future Hall of Famer.
- Highly Successful Leaders Focus On Preparation – Bucky Brooks said, “His career has exceeded my expectations because early in his career he relied solely on his athletic athleticism, didn’t put a lot of time in film room, didn’t put a lot of stuff in the preparation phase. But as he’s gotten older, he’s become a master student and because of that, 18 years in the league he’s still able to make plays.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Keep Their Most Talented People Engaged – Brooks added, “When you have a special talent you have to find a way to keep them engaged.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Remove Bureaucracy From Their Most Talented People – Brooks concluded, “With a playmaker like Charles Woodson, you need to free him of the restraints of the defense and allow him to make those plays when he gets to hunt.”
Louis Riddick, the ESPN analyst and former NFL scout and front office executive, was interviewed by 101 ESPN out of St. Louis. Click here for the full interview.
- Highly Successful Leaders Know What Is Needed For Success – “That’s how you win in the NFL. You have to keep people from scoring.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Are Mentally Tough – “The last defining characteristic from consistent championship teams from ones that will tease you…You have to summon up mental toughness to win in crucial moments.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Know Who They Are Personally And Who Their Organizational Is – “San Francisco is going to be there because they’re getting healthier and knowing what their DNA is.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Understand Balance – “Big and physical wins in the NFL. Running the ball wins in the NFL. Balance wins in the NFL.”
In the April 25th, 2011 edition of the Sporting News, Craig Custance interviewed the NHL’s three-time MVP Alex Ovechkin.
- Highly Successful Leaders Pace Themselves For When They Are Needed The Most – “I just tell myself sometimes you don’t have to play every time 100 percent. If you’re going to play six months 100 percent, you’re going to be tired and exhausted and you don’t have any emotion or any power to play in the playoffs…You want to show your best in the playoffs, not in the regular year or right at the beginning. Good horses start slowly, then they catch up.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Are Sometimes Unsuccessful – “It’s life. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Build Great Teams Around Them – “Lots of players play well and they have the opportunity to win the Stanley Cup, and they didn’t win and it doesn’t matter…It’s a team sport; it’s not you all by yourself.”
- Highly Successful Leaders Do Not Like Losing – “I don’t like losing. I don’t want to be a loser.”
What is one thing from this list you can implement TODAY to become a better leader.
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