The only place finding gold is easy is in a jewelry store. You have to dig for gold, sometimes very deep. It takes sweat, planning, and hard work. Searching for gold usually takes places in searing heat and the worst of conditions. Well, consider me your leadership jeweler today. I’m about to give you hard-to-find leadership gold.
On October 22nd, 2019, the Georgia Bulldog head basketball coach Tom Crean appeared on the Move The Sticks podcast. If you are familiar with Coach Crean, he is a leadership guru. Anytime he writes or speaks on the topic, I pay close attention. This is why I was so excited to hear this interview and he did not disappoint.
The following are 13 Pieces Of Leadership Gold Few Ever Find I gleaned from Coach Crean. All comments are his.
- Only The Tough Finish Well – “Commit to toughness… We have to be able to finish better. We have to get tougher at the end of something.”
- “Toughness is a talent.”
- Selecting Talent Is All About Projection – “When we recruit, we’re looking at upsides more than we’re looking at the actual product. You’ve got to be able to project. You’ve got to project athletic upside, project character and work ethic upside, project the intelligence upside.”
- “The ability to make decisions in real time – a quality he looks for in a point guard.”
- Leaders CANNOT Be Moody – “Your point guard cannot have days, meaning they cannot be moody. You cannot have mood swings on the court… As a point guard you have to lead at very difficult times inside of a game.”
- The Most Successful Leaders Are Also The Hardest Workers – “The majority of the hardest workers all ended up in the NBA.”
- “You cannot be successful in business without having a level of empathy.”
- You Don’t Teach During The Game. You Remind. – “You’re not teaching your players something new in a game. You’re not coaching them as much as you’re reminding them… You have to be reminded from time-to-time what you’re capable of.”
- The Best Leaders Have A Growth Mindset – “You’re always looking for ways to get better. It’s part of that growth mindset.”
- The Most Successful Leaders Have Figured Out What It Takes To Win – “When you’re convinced on what it takes to win, you know there’s a lot of different ways to win. So you need to be convinced of what your core is.”
- Efficiency Is The Bottom Line For Winning – “You never get away from the bottom line of what it takes to win. There’s got to be respect for your teammates. There’s got to be a respect and love of the game. There’s got to be a passion for what you’re doing. There’s got to be a level of toughness. But you have to play to a level of efficiency.”
- A High Level Of Efficiency Is The Most Important Thing A Leader Can Have – “The level of efficiency that you have to have is the most important thing a player can have because if you’re efficient, it’s not just about you. You’re making your teammates better. You’re helping them be efficient… It’s about how many ways can you impact your team?”
- 3 Questions All Successful Leaders Ask – “What’s going to give us an edge? What’s going to impact the team? How can we be better today in a way that makes sense for us?”
What is one thing you learned from Coach Crean which will make you a better leader?
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