On Thursday night, March 14, 2024, we witnessed one of the best examples of the leadership axiom – Leaders should never ask someone to do something they are not willing to do themselves – we will ever see.
With the Boston Celtics leading the Phoenix Suns 122-106 with approximately three minutes remaining in the game, Celtics forward Jaylen Brown stole the ball and finished with a dunk. Afterwards, the Suns called timeout… and that is when things got memorable.
As you will see in the video ball, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla went onto the court attempting to block a shot by Suns player Royce O’Neale during the timeout. Watch the video below and hear Mazzulla’s justification for his actions:
When Coach Mazzulla was asked about the play, he said, “I saw a guy going in there to try to get a shot, and he hadn’t made one, and I didn’t want him to feel good about himself going to the bench. Gary asked me about that a month ago, and that’s the bench rule. Guys don’t shoot shots in front of our bench to go back to their bench to feel good about ourselves. If I’m gonna ask the guys to contest, the staff’s gonna do the same.”
The phrase which sticks out to me is, “If I’m gonna ask the guys to contest, the staff’s gonna do the same.”
Coach Mazzulla went through extraordinarily lengths to embody the principle that leaders should never ask anyone to do something they are not willing to do themselves.
Failure to do so will result in a loss of you influence due to a perceived sense of entitlement and lack of authenticity.
What are you asking those you lead to do? Be prepared to do the same.
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