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LEADERSHIP IS A PROCESS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE, WHICH MAXIMISES THE EFFORTS OF OTHERS TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF A SHARED GOAL.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Positive Leadership: Lessons from Phil Jackson


Phil Jackson is a retired American professional basketball coach and former player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association. He was the head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 until 1998, during which Chicago won six NBA titles. His next team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won five NBA titles from 2000 until 2010.

His coaching career offers many leadership lessons, among them:


1. Teamwork

Phil Jackson believed strongly in teamwork. His employment of the triangle offense showed his thoughts about how a team should work together, having no one ‘glorified’ at the expense of the rest.
Although he had big characters like Dennis Rodman or Kobe Bryant in his team, he never allowed these stars to become the centre of the team. He emphasised a team centred form of play that became very successful in the NBA.

It is the same for all teams. A good team leader knows how to use each member’s strengths to their advantage. While it is sometimes tempting to glorify the “CEO” to above the rest of the company, it is important to note that the best companies in the world don’t have “Stars”.

2. Role playing

Phil Jackson used the power of role playing in his practices. It is said that in a practice against an important opponent, Jackson had one of his players of a similar build dress exactly like his opponent so that his players could visualise beating and overcoming him in practice.

Events often happen in the imagination of a person before they are brought into reality. You, too, use the power of role-playing to help your team visualise the success before they actually have it.



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