Success is cyclical. No leader stays on top forever. Therefore, be gracious to everyone on your up. If you do, they will be gracious to you on your inevitable way down. Highly Intelligent Leaders are gracious.
This is one lesson I have learned this past week. The following are 13 additional Practices Of Highly Intelligent Leaders gleaned from recent articles I have read.
Dwight Howard’s Interview With Lee Jenkins in the September 25th Sports Illustrated. All quotes are from Howard.
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Realize Their Need For God – “I felt like I didn’t need my relationship with God anymore and that caused a lot of pain.”
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Recognize Their Sin – “All of a sudden I went from the good guy to the devil.”
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Know You Cannot Compartmentalize Your Life – “My life got so complicated. And one thing I’ve learned is that eventually, what you do off the court will affect what you do on the court.”
ESPN NFL Matchup – Saturday, October 7th
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Set Others Up For Success – “A lot of it has Bill O’Brien really putting his quarterback in positions to succeed and setting him up for success.” – Louis Riddick on why Deshaun Watson has experienced early success
Sports Illustrated – October 9th
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Know They Can Always Get Better – “He’s always talking, always thinking, ‘Can I add that to my repertoire?'” – Brian Matthews on his son Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Never Panic – “I played with Tom Brady, and I’ve played with Peyton [Manning] and it’s not just the mental side that makes them great. It’s their calm – that poise, that unwavering confidence, man. They’re always cool; they never panic. If you have [those same] traits, you’re on your way.” – Aqib Talib
Sports Illustrated – October 2nd
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Keep Things In Perspective – “Legna, no matter what happens tonight, we’ve got our win.” – Francisco Lindor to his older sister prior to the Game 7 of the 2016 World Series when learning she was cancer free
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Learn From Failure – “It gave me a chance to share a life lesson with my daughters. The lessons was about losing, that even though we were so disappointed we didn’t win, there’s a right way of handling it.” – Cleveland Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antoinetti after losing Game 7 to the Cubs
Sports Illustrated – September 25th
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Use Good Judgment – “The reality is that any economic modeling that includes projections is not going to like a deadline deal, where you’re trading what could be an enormous amount of future value for a decent amount of present value. The math does not support these type of deals. It’s a matter of using your best judgment.” – Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow on making trade deadline deals
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Do Not Know The Future – “If anybody tells you they have an idea of what the future looks like, don’t believe them. The future is a lot weirder than we can imagine.” – Astros executive Sig Medal
Sports Illustrated – September 4th
- Having Highly Intelligent Leaders Is A Competitive Advantage – “With somebody as smart as him, who knows the game inside and out … you’re playing against his mind.” – Houston Texans Whitney Mercilus on Tom Brady
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Know Their Greatest Competitive Advantage Is Their People – “That’s one of the things about this league. It’s not only a chess match schematically; it’s a chess match of evaluating personnel. How can we get our guy [lined up against] a weaker player?” – O’Brien
- Highly Intelligent Leaders Build Teams With Great Depth – “Bill [Belichick] is going to find your strengths and take those away. Your No. 3 receiver had better be on his A game – you’re going to have to beat them with him.” – Bengals wide receiver Brandon Lafell
What is one thing you learned from this list which will make you a more intelligent leader?
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