Wine is not the only thing that gets better with age. Sometimes leaders do as well.
Despite previous conflicts with players such as James Harden and Blake Griffin, NBA insiders have long known of the leadership brilliance of Chris Paul. Now during this year’s NBA season and playoffs, his skills has become have become apparent to the entire nation.
What I also find compelling about Paul’s leadership is how much it improved in this, his 15th year in the league. It is an indication that evened seasoned leaders need to learn new skills and continually adapt their leadership style.
The following are 12 Leadership Lessons From Phoenix Suns Point Guard Chris Paul I gleaned from a July 6th article in The Athletic written by Jovan Buha. You can read the entire article by clicking HERE.
- Leaders Are Ultimately Judged By Results – Though he was already a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer, playing in the Finals has put Paul in a new historical light. His fiery and sometimes abrasive leadership style has now been redeemed a bit. Also, if the Suns win the title, Paul will be considered the 5th best point guard of all-time trailing Magic Johnson, Steph Curry, Isaiah Thomas and Oscar Robertson. The title will separate Paul from non-title winners like Allen Iverson, Steve Nash, and others.
- Even Natural Leaders Can Get Better By Continually Learning More About The Art And Craft Of Leadership – Suns head coach Monty Williams said, “I think you learn over time, leadership is tricky. It’s only leadership if people follow you. Otherwise, you’re just taking a walk by yourself.”
- Evaluated Experience Is A Leader’s Best Friend – Over the last few seasons, Paul has become much more flexible and nimble in terms of how he exercises his leadership. Why you may ask? Paul said, “Experience. Just leadership, experience.” For more on this, see the next point.
- Leaders Lead By Example – In Game 6 of the Western Conference finals, the Los Angeles Clippers had trimmed the Suns’ lead to seven points. In the past, the fiery Paul would had engaged his teammates in an extremely elevated fashion. However, this time, he simply led by example scoring the next eight points by himself taking the lead back to 15 points.
- Great Leaders Must Have Situational Adaptability And Improving Emotional Intelligence – Building on the previous point, Coach Williams observed, “I think we both, especially Chris, would tell you he’s made adjustments to fit the situation. There are times where he has to tell people directly what the deal is, and then there are times where I’ve seen him lead in a different way than he did 11 years ago.”
- For Smart Leaders, It Is More Important To Be Effective Than Right – How you deliver the message is often as important as the message itself. Coach Williams added, “It’s better to be effective than right. Sometimes when you’re in leadership positions, if you feel like you have to be right all the time, you’re probably going to be by yourself trying to figure out ways to be effective and bring everybody along with you. It can serve you well, and that’s what I’ve seen with him.”
- Skilled Older Leaders Build Bridges To Connect With Younger Leaders – Paul has developed a solid connection with Cam Payne and young stars Deandre Ayton and Devin Booker. Payne said, “When C got here, C taught us a lot. So when he gets to talking, everybody feels like, you know, OK, everybody’s holding each other accountable. I think it’s the accountability thing for us and the type of relationships we have with each other that if someone’s messing up, 1 through 15 has the right to say something to you because we know each other off the court. So, no one ever takes it the wrong way.”
- Smart Leaders Enjoy Their Teammates – Paul said, “It’s a fun group to be around. And when you’re around a group like that, you want to win. You don’t ever want the season to end because you actually like being around each other.”
- Successful Leaders Prioritize Connecting With Their Top Producers – I mentioned in an earlier point that Devin Booker was a star. In fact, he has become a superstar! Paul has made a special point to befriend Booker, who is also happens to be his neighbor. Booker said of his relationship with Paul, ““There’s zero ego involved. I think that’s the most important part. We both want to see each other succeed. We both want the team to succeed. We all want the team to succeed. So when you’re all on the same page that way, the relationships tend to happen. We spend a lot of time together.”
- Successful Leaders Invest In Their Top Producers – Booker added, “This is our first year playing together, so I appreciate him a lot. I’ve been a sponge to him since the day he got here, before that, but our relationship definitely took off since he’s been here.”
- Great Leaders Bring Out The Best In Others – Ayton said the addition of Paul was “the best thing that happened to my career.”
- Great Leaders Hold Others Accountable – Ayton continued, “Everything that Chris tells me or tells me what to do, it’s from the heart. That dude loves to compete. If you’re a real competitor, you’re not just listening to how somebody’s saying it. You’re just getting the message that we’re going to get this done. That’s the type of relationship we have.”
What is one thing you learned from Chris Paul which will make you a better leader? For me as a 55-year-old leader, it was the need to continually adapt my style to connect with top producers!
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