“It’s nice to come to the park every day knowing that’s your leader and he has your back.” – Cleveland Indians’ Mike Napoli on his manger Terry Francona
You have to trust your leaders to be a successful organization. A lack of trust will destroy a team. You must know your leader will have your back. As you can read from the quote above, the Cleveland Indians baseball knows their leader, manager Terry Francona has their back.
In the October 27th edition of USA Today, Francona was profiled. As I read the article, I gleaned the following 16 Habits Of Leaders Who Have Your Back:
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Know You Can Be Insecure – Francona said, “I don’t think it matter how old you are, how much experience you have. It’s OK to be nervous. It’s still a big deal. Hey, it’s the World Series.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Make Your Job Fun – Cleveland general manager Mike Chernoff said, “That’s what makes this culture so fun around here. He’s made such a huge difference on this entire organization.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Consistent – Reliever Cody Allen said, “He’s the same guy every day, no matter what the situation, where we’re at, who we’re playing.
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Approachable – Allen added, “You’ll find him in his office playing cards with some of the players 30 minutes before the game. The clinching game in Toronto, he’s in there trying to win money from guys.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Unite People Rather Than Divide Them – Chernoff pointed out, “One of the biggest things he’s done here is broken down every potential barrier there could be between different departments. Everything we do now, from the front office to the field staff to the business side, we do it as one cohesive unit.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Safe To Be Around – Chernoff continues, “Tito makes it a really safe place to be yourself. He likes to thing of himself as a regular guy, and that leadership style makes it a safe place for everybody to interact freely.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Competent – They not only want to have your back, they have the track record and skill to be able to actually have your back. Francona can flat-out coach. He won two World Series championships with the Boston Red Sox and has a 38-23 playoff record.
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are A Joy To Be Around – Jason Kipnis said, “Tito is the best. You are not going to find one guy in here who doesn’t enjoy playing for him. And you’re not gong to find one guy who doesn’t want him to be their manager the rest of their careers. Once you have Tito, you really don’t want anybody else to ever manage you.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Genuine – Mike Napoli said, “He’s a genuine person, and you can talk to him about anything.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Honest – Napoli adds, “He’s going to you the truth.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Want The Absolute Best For You – Napoli continues, “He wants you to do good, he wants to talk to you, and that’s for everybody in the clubhouse.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Appreciate You For Who You Are – Francisco Lindor said, “Since Day 1, he has let me be me.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Respected And Help You Earn Respect As Well – Francona told Lindor, “I want you to be yourself, but at the same time, respect everyone here. The only way you’re going to earn respect from your teammates is if you show that you want to win and play hard.” Lindor noted, “And that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are All About Others – Former Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said, “What would mean the most is that he’d win for the franchise where his dad played. He loves his dad. He respects his Dad and what he did before him (playing at Cleveland).”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Want You To Get Better Every Day – Shapiro added, “Nobody knew how driven he is, how willing he is to drive the culture of us getting better every day, from top to bottom. It’s unbelievable.”
- Leaders Who Have Your Back Are Grateful Leaders – Francona concluded, “No one should be thanking me. I’m the one who needs to be thanking them.”
What is one thing you learned from the leadership of Terry Francona which will help you better have your team’s back?
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