Positive Leadership: Leadership Lessons from Coach K

Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski now has most NCAA career victories (903). Krzyzewski has been called “the modern-day John Wooden” by Louisville coach Rick Pitino and “a coach’s coach … a guy I think every coach in America looks to and respects,” by Kansas coach Bill Self. He has led the Blue Devils to 11 Final Four appearances and four national titles. In this extract from an interview with Jerry Kavanagh for Athlon Sports, Krzyzewski showed an appreciation for literature in speaking about his coaching style and leadership.

'In the book Absinthe and Flamethrowers, the author, William Gurstelle, writes that managers who take the greatest risks are the most successful. Do you agree with that?

I think you have to be careful when you say that. Somebody might think that to be a leader or a manager, “I need to take a lot of risks, or else I’m not good.” I think you can’t be afraid to do what’s necessary. Some people would equate that to taking a risk because it goes against the grain or it’s not something that is normally done. But my feeling is that a leader has to take the course of action that’s necessary to produce a positive result after doing an analysis and preparing himself to take a look at that situation. The world might call that a risk; a leader would call that the appropriate action that needed to be taken. I think when you just take that one statement (by Gurstelle), you can make a mistake by saying, “I didn’t take a risk today. I better take one.” I think you go boldly in the direction that’s necessary and in the direction that you’re prepared to go in.

You often talk about leadership. Napoleon defined a leader as “a dealer in hope.” I read where you said, “Leadership can be lonely.” Can you explain that?

Well, leadership is lonely because you don’t discuss everything. Part of it is that in your moments of doubt or in your moments of being nervous or wondering if this is the right thing that you’re doing, you never want to show weakness to your group. And you don’t share that because it’s not the main feeling you have, but because you’re a human being these feelings hit you. Leadership can be very lonely, but there’s a certain amount of time that you have to be by yourself, it has to be yours as you’re looking into it, before you present something to your group. I think that’s a price that you pay.

Some of the statements you have made have an application beyond basketball. For example, “Fear can change you.” What do you mean by that?

Some people are afraid of fear, so they avoid it. They don’t try to do anything. They’re very cautious. And when you get into new situations, there’s an element of fear that can excite you. It can freeze you or stop you from doing something, because it’s new. It can be exciting, but there’s still some fear involved. And I don’t think that you have to face fear. You know, part of being courageous is facing fear and doing what you’re supposed to do. People have different fears — fear of speaking, fear of heights, a bunch of fears — and when you face those fears, you can turn them into your strengths. That’s how you evolve as a person and how a group evolves as a team.'

Positive Leadership: Leadership Lessons from Coach K

Positive Leadership: The Importance of 'Organisational Socialisation'

Positive Leadership: The Importance of 'Organisational Socialisation'

Positive Leadership: 'Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man'

This is an inspiring piece from Henry Winter in The Daily Telegraph:

(For the full article, see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/bolton-wanderers/9154414/Bolton-Manager-Owen-Coyle-has-shown-inspirational-leadership-during-these-troubled-days.html )

"The Glaswegian has been an inspiring leader during these troubled days, not simply in the support he has shown [Farbice] Muamba’s family and the way he has tended his distressed flock.

Coyle has handled the media adroitly, always exuding positivity. In times of darkness, football needs beacons of hope and Coyle has lit them across the land.

A humble character, Coyle will hate this sentiment but it needs chronicling for all time that he has embedded himself so deeply in the affections of the Bolton public.

As a player, Coyle lifted Bolton up once before, helping them rise to the Premier League via the play-offs in 1995.

As a manager, Coyle has now lifted the club off its knees.

The nation has also seen and admired somebody assuming responsibility when most required. So ‘66 was a great year for English football: Owen Coyle was born.

This is a man of principle, a figure who inspires trust amongst his players.

It is astonishing to consider that earlier this season Coyle’s leadership credentials were being questioned. Not now. Not after these past few days.

Whatever fate befalls Bolton this season, and the feeling endures that they could be acquiring the quickening resolve (as well as players like Rio Miyaichi) to scrap their way out of the relegation basement, Coyle’s reputation has been enhanced. His critics have been scattered.

Some men are made for such moments. Again, Coyle will hate the praise. That’s not his style. Never has been.

In company, the former Republic of Ireland international is modest and bright, talking almost too quickly such is the abundance of ideas spilling forth.

Attending one of Kevin Davies’ golf days last year, I suggested a quick coffee with Coyle in the clubhouse and listened spellbound to his espousal of the passing game and of football’s role in the community.

Coyle enthuses people, especially players. It is little surprise that managers like Arsenal’s Arsène Wenger entrust him with youngsters like Miyaichi and particularly Jack Wilshere, who flourished on loan under Coyle.

Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge also matured as man and player during his spell at the Reebok.

It is also little surprise that Bolton’s dressing-room is home to some of the more thoughtful souls in the game like Davies, Sam Ricketts, Stuart Holden, Nigel Reo-Coker and Muamba.

They enjoy working with such a shrewd teacher as Coyle.

If Coyle has been seen in the right light over the past few days, the game he loves and serves so well has been viewed in a different light…….”

Positive Leadership: 'Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man'

Positive Leadership: Improving Your Presentation

In 2009, Haroon Mirza’s start-up, CognoVision,  was named most innovative company by the Canadian Innovation Exchange. He attributes the accomplishment, at least in part, to the pitch he delivered prior to being awarded the prestigious title.

Shortly after winning, Mr. Mirza’s facial-recognition software business was purchased by Intel for millions of dollars.

The pitch may be an art, not an exact science, but Mr. Mirza has a few simple techniques he says can help anyone improve their public speaking:

Say the pitch out loud as many times as possible in advance

Mr. Mirza always thought Steve Jobs was the best presenter in the world. “He looks so natural. I remember I read somewhere that he spent more than a month preparing for every presentation, and it made me think that if Steve Jobs spends that much time preparing, how does anybody wing it?”

If forgetting lines and feeling self-conscious in front of an audience are two things that make a presenter nervous, go through dry runs to get used to the content, allowing greater flexibility to articulate it, and familiarise yourself with performing.

You don’t know all the answers

And that’s all right. Meticulous preparation is important, and being able to answer any questions from prospective investors, venture capitalists or anyone else for that matter, speaks to a presenter’s confidence and knowledge of a product. However, not knowing all the answers does not mean failure.

“If someone asks you a question and you don’t know the answer, do not attempt to make it up on the spot,” Mr. Mirza advises. “These people can smell BS and as soon as they do, you lose credibility. The best way to handle the situation is to be honest; saying something like ‘I don’t have that information at the moment but I’ll look into it immediately and be sure to follow up.’”

Read

Seriously. Mr. Mirza thinks of it as investing in yourself. When researching the people he thought were the best public speakers – Bill Clinton, Steve Jobs – he noticed one thing they had in common was that they were well-read. Exposure to so much material likely helped them articulate their own.

“So I started reading more, I expanded my vocabulary, I learned how to better articulate my ideas, and I think in this way the presenter earns the respect of the audience.”

Storytelling as a competitive advantage

The audience feeds off the energy of a presenter. When the speaker is nervous, so is everyone else in the room. A confident, measured delivery can help a presenter maintain control. That’s why Mr. Mirza tries to make each presentation like telling a story.

“Say you’re presenting to a venture capitalist. If you’re a great storyteller, you transfer that enthusiasm to the audience and you get them feeling involved in what you’re saying. Excellent presentation skills are an unfair advantage; when you’re really good and you make it look easy, it’s unfair to everyone else who has to present against you.”

Positive Leadership: Improving Your Presentation

Positive Leadership: Attitude

Positive Leadership: Attitude

Positive Leadership: Goosebumps thanks to Adele are Powerful

Music is a powerful mood setter, transcending time and place, and has the ability to evoke memories made yesterday or thirty years ago. We all know that music makes us feel, but what is it about music that gets us pensive, or full of life and on our feet and dancing?

British psychologist, John Sloboda, conducted a study where he asked participants to identify the parts of a song they thought were most powerful. The results showed that a significant number of the 'powerful song parts' were created by appoggiatura – a process which creates emotional tension in the listener.

If appoggiatura doesn't sound familiar, you'll be able to relate to it when we say it's the moment in a song when you feel shivers down your spine. If you've heard "Someone Like You" by Adele, you'll know what we mean. Appoggiatura creates an emotional connection with our brains which leads us to think that these are the most powerful parts of a piece of music.

What's really interesting is that listening to emotionally charged music, whether happy or sad, releases dopamine which makes us feel good. The more goosebumps you feel when listening to a song, the more your brain craves it.

Positive Leadership: Goosebumps thanks to Adele are Powerful

Positive Leadership: Valuing Families and Work-Life Balance

Nancy Koehn is a professor of business administration at Harvard University.

The business community is due for a change in the way it values families and work-life balance, Koehn says. She addresses this in three parts. 

Large companies are struggling to retain top talent, half of whom or more are women, Koehn says. Improvement is needed in enabling a woman to maintain her career and have a life outside of work — including having and raising a child — that goes beyond “a kind of toggle switch” in which a woman leaves and then “tries to get back in.”

Corporations need to have open discussions about work-life balance, including what it means to have a family. It’s not enough to discuss “work-life balance” or “work-family,” Koehn says. What is needed is “a more nuanced dialogue that’s in keeping with the … difficulty and messiness of trying to work well and live well as a family member, a parent and a citizen,” she says.

Businesses don’t foster values that include men and women as units of a family, particularly among large corporations, Koehn says. Few include family as a core part of their mission or values, and “yet everyone has a family, and everyone is very much affected in terms of the possibilities and their paths by what that family is and what it becomes.”

 

Positive Leadership: Valuing Families and Work-Life Balance

Positive Leadership: The Role of Imagination in Leadership

Fast Company's website 30secondmba.com is a great source of short video insights on leadership, business success, teamwork and innovation from some of today’s top business people. This "advice from the trenches" is a wealth of easily digestible information and a font of real experience.

One headline that caught our attention was the role of imagination in leadership. Senior leaders from Intel, DreamWorks and Current TV among others give their version as to how imagination is crucial to good leadership. 


Imagination allows leaders to see opportunities and obstacles that others can't, it fosters collaboration and creativity, and it creates energy, all of which lead to motivation. Imagination fuels success and a winning attitude. Imagination gives us the courage to wonder 'what if'.

Positive Leadership: The Role of Imagination in Leadership

Positive Leadership: Being a Role Model

As we head into another year of March Madness, remember that whether you know it or not, little eyes are watching you and little minds want to be just like you.

What kind of a role model are you going to be for them? 

NCAA legend, the late Coach John Wooden shares some thought provoking words in this video directed by Spike Lee.

 

This Little Chap Who Follows Me

A careful man I want to be.

A little fellow follows me.

I do not dare go astray

For fear he’ll go the self-same way.

I cannot once escape his eyes.

Whate’er he sees me do, he tries.

Like ME he says he’s going to be-

That little chap who follows me.

I must remember as I go

Through summer suns and winter snow,

I am building for the years to be-

That little chap who follows me.

Positive Leadership: Being a Role Model

Positive Leadership: Leadership is a Choice

"Leadership is not a talent or a gift. It's a choice. It's not complex, but it's very hard.", General Stanley McChrystal explains to a packed auditorium of 600 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

McChrystal shares his perspective on leadership and influence discussing the importance of understanding culture, leading by example, building trust, and creating a common goal within a team.

It's important, he told the audience, for a leader to share in the critical aspects of a task. "If there's risk, you've got to share it," he said. "If there's pain, you've got to share it."

McChrystal is a four-star general and former commander of U.S. and international forces in Afghanistan. He also served as the former leader of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC).

Positive Leadership: Leadership is a Choice

Positive Leadership: One of the Leaders!

We are delighted that the Positive Leadership website (www.positiveleadership.co.uk ) and Blog (http://positiveleadershiplimited.blogspot.com ) both feature among the category leaders: 

Website Search via Google (www.google.co.uk)

Search term 'leadership consulting scotland' - page 1 - 3.5 million results

Search term ‘leadership consulting’ – page 3 - 33.6 million results

Blog ranking via BlogRank (http://www.invesp.com/blog-rank )

‘Leadership’ Blog URL #24 Positive Leadership Blog 

‘Leadership’ Blog Name #37 Positive Leadership Blog 

The Positive Leadership Blog has also had over 45,000 page views.

Positive Leadership: One of the Leaders!

Positive Leadership: Integrity

Li Cunxin recalls having integrity in life was something he was taught very early on in his childhood. Li notes that integrity is an essential trait for leaders in order to inspire and motivate those around you.

Positive Leadership: Integrity

Positive Leadership: Rethinking the Purpose of Business

Jim Stengel, former global marketing officer for Procter & Gamble, believes that businesses must rethink their purpose to achieve far better results. 

But not just the most apparent purpose, but a higher order ideal or purpose. For example, Johnnie Walker exists to make great whisky, but its higher order ideal is to celebrate journeys of progress and success.

Starbucks must make great coffee, but it must do more if it is to attract people and innovate in ways that make life better for the people they serve both inside and outside the organisation. “It’s necessary,” writes Stengel in Grow, “to want to be the best-performing enterprise around, with the highest standards, the best people, and the most satisfied customers. 

However, this simply doesn’t aim high enough and look far enough ahead. To hit higher targets and stay out in front of the competition requires an ideal. ”To that end, Starbucks also exists to create connections for self-discovery and inspiration. It’s what fuels passion and creates meaningful work.  A brand ideal of improving people’s lives is the only sustainable way to recruit, unite, and inspire all the people a business touches, from employees to customers.”

Stengel believes that a higher-order brand ideal must improve people’s lives in one of five fields of fundamental human values:

Eliciting Joy: Activating experiences of happiness, wonder, and limitless possibility; create moments of happiness that engage our thoughts and emotions as well as our physical senses. (Coca-Cola, Zappos, Lindt)

Enabling Connection: Enhancing the ability of people to connect with one another and the world in meaningful ways. Key concepts in this field are connect, listen, reach, and community. (Airtel, Fed Ex, Blackberry, Natura)

Inspiring Exploration: Helping people explore new horizons and new experiences. Helps customers learn, gives them powerful tools, and invites them to reinvent themselves and their world. (Apple, Discovery Communications, Pampers, Red Bull)

Evoking Pride: Giving people increased confidence, strength, security, and vitality; supporting self-expression and inspiring passion. (Calvin Klein, Heineken, L’Occitane)

Impacting Society: Affecting society broadly, including by challenging the status quo and redefining categories. (Accenture, IBM, Method, Seventh Generation)

Stengel’s bases his conclusions on a ten-year growth study involving 50,000 brands. The study tracked the connection between financial performance and customer engagement, loyalty and advocacy. The result was “The Stengel 50.” In the 2000’s, an investment in these companies would have been 400% more profitable than an investment in the S&P 500. “If you’re willing to embrace the same concept and align your business with a fundamental human ideal, you can achieve extraordinary growth in your own business and your own career. My research shows that your growth rate can triple.”

Stengel’s point is good psychology. Success is more complex than any one factor. More good decisions than bad (intelligent people make silly mistakes too); timing and luck all play a part too. And then great companies get off track, not because they were doing the wrong thing, but because they stop doing them or failed to adapt appropriately. The ideas presented in Grow are what worked for Stengel for the time he was at Procter & Gamble and properly applied may work for you too. Generally, if it is based on sound principles, it’s always worth consideration. And Sengel’s ideas are.

One implication of the study is interesting. Stengel reports that the “study challenged P&G’s paradigm of moving people around frequently. The companies that were growing the fastest had a different paradigm. In recruiting and hiring they looked for people whose values fit with their brands, and tended to keep people working in the same areas for much longer.”

He categorizes the people that run The Stengel 50 as business artists. “The fastest-growing businesses in the world have a leader whose relationship to the business is not primarily that of an operator, no matter how savvy, but an artist whose primary medium is an ideal.”

The business case for ideals is about playing a role in the lives of both customers and employees at a much more important level than the competition does. It’s about connecting with people holistically: rationally and emotionally, left brain and right brain.

Stengel recommends that you continually ask four questions:

1.       How well do we understand the people who are most important to our future?

2.       What do we and our brand stand for?

3.       What do we want to stand for?

4.       How are we bringing the answers to these questions to life?

The power is in the answers and executing against them. What is your primary purpose? What do the people you serve care about beyond what they buy from you? Could you benefit from discovering your higher ideal?

Positive Leadership: Rethinking the Purpose of Business

Positive Leadership: Combat Complacency

One of the things that we should constantly remind ourselves about is to be very aware of the good things in our life. It seems to be a part of human biological functioning to take good things for granted, especially those good things that are a part of our day-in, day-out lives.

You see, there is actually a part of our brain that is designed to screen out anything that isn't hurtful, fearful, or physically moving. A long time ago, it helped our ancestors stay alive and get ready to fight or run away.

Nowadays, this brain function may have something to do with our neglect of the good but very familiar things in our lives. So is there anything we can do about it? How can we combat this complacency?

Well, for one thing we can become conscious! We can stimulate our own awareness by making lists of the things we are grateful for, and by deliberately thinking about what we value and take pleasure from. In other words, we can take on the "Attitude of Gratitude."

We can express these feelings in words, or in other ways. We can express them openly, and in the process help others to remember their own reasons for gratitude. What are you grateful for in your life? How do you express your gratitude, and how often do you express it?

Are you taking your most important gifts for granted? If so, how could you change, and how soon?

Positive Leadership: Combat Complacency

Positive Leadership: Conscious Business

John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods Market chain, has loftier goals than getting Americans to eat healthy foods, one of the missions of his grocery empire. He is out to change American business as well, putting it on the path to higher consciousness.

Positive Leadership: Conscious Business

Positive Leadership: The Rewards of Saying No

"It comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We're always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it's only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important." 

Steve Jobs, Apple Co-founder

Positive Leadership: The Rewards of Saying No

Positive Leadership: The Power of Positive Thinking

Lindsey Vonn's Aha! Moment: The Power of Positive Thinking

As told to Jessica Silvester

From the February 2012 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine

‘After very different encounters with two childhood role models, the Olympic gold medallist skier learned the value of a winning attitude.

One weekend when I was 9, two of my idols from the U.S. Ski Team came to sign autographs at the ski shop in my Minnesota hometown. When I heard about the event, I couldn't believe I'd have the chance to see them in person—on TV, they seemed like superheroes.

Picabo Street, the downhill champion, appeared at the store first, and she was amazing. "Keep following your dreams," she told me. With those simple words, she made the idea of being an Olympian seem attainable. She signed a poster for me that I still have.

But the next day I went back to meet my other idol, who shall remain anonymous. I arrived at the tail end of her signing, and when I asked for an autograph, she coldly said no and walked away. I was crushed. My parents tried to console me, saying, "She's probably stressed. She must have had a bad day. Try not to think about it." But as an impressionable kid, I couldn't stop thinking about it. After having these opposite experiences—one so inspiring, one devastating - I realised what a difference your attitude can make.

That moment stayed with me. When kids recognize me now, whether they want an autograph, a high five, or to ask me my favourite colour, I never say no. If I'm at an event like the meet and greet I did last year in Vail, which lasted about three hours in ten-degree weather, I don't focus on the fact that I'm freezing. I remember that if you stay upbeat, it can have a huge impact on those around you.

I make the effort to stay positive in other areas of my life, too. If one of my friends gets hurt in a relationship, I try to point out something she can learn from it (although you'd have to ask my friends if I'm actually helping). And when I'm training with the U.S. Ski Team and feeling exhausted, I still try to give people support. Of course, I have my moments. But it's usually easier and more fun to be positive than it is to be negative—and it has served me well.

In November, while I was having lunch with students from the Vail Ski & Snowboard Academy, a 16-year-old boy named Parker politely asked if I would come to his homecoming dance that Friday night. I couldn't say no. And then there I was, dancing and having fun, after missing my own high school homecoming because I was busy traveling and skiing. Parker was a great date—and I was so glad I had said yes.’

Positive Leadership: The Power of Positive Thinking

Positive Leadership: Sustaining Success

Trevor Moawad, IMG Performance Institute Director talks about management leadership skills in this video. "If we find success, it’s all about sustaining it. And if we are struggling, it’s all about responding." Moawad explains the main principle about adopting the correct attitude to affect the performance and being able to talk athletes into winning.

 

Positive Leadership: Sustaining Success

Positive Leadership: Top 25 Ranking for our Blog

Positive Leadership: Top 25 Ranking for our Blog

Positive Leadership: Great Leaders Continue to GROW

Great leaders make the choice to GROW in four areas:

Gain Knowledge. Gain self-knowledge, knowledge of others, your industry, and the field of leadership

Reach Out to Others. You need to be proactive about helping others grow if you’re going to grow and learn. Teaching isn’t just about sharing information, it’s also about helping people draw out new learnings for themselves by the questions you ask.

Open Your World. You will add much more value as a leader if you open up and expand your world with leadership experiences and life experiences. Be on the lookout for experiences inside and outside work that will make you a better leader over time.

Walk Toward Wisdom. Growth in wisdom has no formula, but it almost always involves at least one of four elements: rigorous self-evaluation, honest feedback, counsel from others, and time.

The two primary reasons leaders get off track are ego and fear. For many leaders, their ego is fueled by a heightened sense of confidence—you might call it overconfidence or pride. This, combined with the fear of losing control, often prevents leaders from serving people and growing.

Positive Leadership: Great Leaders Continue to GROW

Positive Leadership: The 'Secret' of Success

The secret of success can be described in one word. 

We have studied success. We have also spent a lot of time in the company of respected research psychologists, talking about what makes some people succeed and others collapse - the difference, in short, between the cans and the can-nots, the do's and the do-nots.

And after this study and research, we can tell you one thing with the utmost confidence: the secret of success is "Attitude." That's it. And it is really not a secret. People who succeed do not have fewer problems than other people. They do not start out with the most brainpower or better parents or more money, either.

As a matter of fact, sometimes they start out working against incredible odds. But they have a way of looking at things, a way of seeing obstacles as possibilities, a way of hanging in there and making the most of every opportunity that almost guarantees success. If you are running up against an unexpected challenge, do an attitude check. Ask yourself, "Am I not seeing the way around, because of an attitude?"

You are successful - and flexible, optimistic and hardworking. So if you want to sum it up in a word, it is not difficult to do: success is a question of attitude.

Positive Leadership: The 'Secret' of Success

Positive Leadership: Correlation between High Performance and Investment in Leadership Development

Just over two out of five bosses consider their line managers to be ineffective, according to a study into the business benefits of management and leadership development, released today by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and Penna.

The research shows organisational performance and management abilities to be clearly linked - with only 39% of managers in low performing businesses deeming their line managers to be effective, compared to 80% in high performing organisations.

The CMI-Penna report, produced with Henley Business School, draws on findings from almost 4,500 managers, including more than 300 CEOs and 550 HR decision makers.

The research provides evidence showing how management and leadership development activities can lead to increases of up to 32% in people performance and 23% in overall organisational performance, across organisations of all sectors and sizes.

The findings show high performing organisations spend on average 36% more on management and leadership development per manager per year than low performing ones.

For more, see: http://www.managers.org.uk/news/nearly-half-uk-line-managers-‘are-ineffective’

Positive Leadership: Correlation between High Performance and Investment in Leadership Development

Positive Leadership: Allow Talent to Flourish

Former General Electric ceo, Jack Welch talks here about the lessons from the Jeremy Lin story - 'Every company is filled with young talent just waiting to explode. Don’t let the bureaucracy keep them on the bench.' 

For more, see: http://blogs.reuters.com/jack-and-suzy-welch/2012/02/24/jeremy-lin-lessons-from-the-linsanity

 

Positive Leadership: Allow Talent to Flourish

Positive Leadership: Lessons from Linsanity

In the US today, Jeremy Lin is the man-of-the-moment, the new New York Knick Rock Star. Lin’s face is everywhere. The Knicks point guard has taken the world by storm. He has led the Knicks to a winning record since he became a starter.  His highlights include hitting a game-winning 3 pointer at the buzzer to beat the Toronto Raptors and nationally televised wins over Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers and the defending champion Dallas Mavericks. During this time Lin became the first NBA player to score at least 20 points and have seven assists in each of his first five starts. Ever.

But here’s the part of the story that bothers us: Many in the media are portraying Jeremy Lin as an “overnight LINsation,” as ESPN put it.

Let’s look at what Lin’s “overnight” really looked like.

Lin said he dreamed of playing in the NBA as a child. There’s a You Tube of 6 year-old Jeremy Lin showing off his dribbling skills. The product of two 5-foot-6 engineers, most laughed when he laid out his career choice.

As a high school senior, he led Palo Alto (CA) High School to a state championship over nationally ranked #1 Mater Dei High School. His coach was quoted as saying that the school was so well known for its academics that when the players returned with the trophy, they were reminded “how well the robotics club” had done the same week.

Lin sent out 25 DVDs and resumes to colleges, yet received no college scholarship offers – not even from Stanford, which was less than a mile from Lin’s High School! He chose to play basketball for Harvard. Ivy League schools offer no athletic scholarships.

In his junior year Lin was the only NCAA Division 1 player to rank in the top ten in his conference in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals, blocked shots, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, and three-point shot percentage.

Lin’s name was not called in the 2010 NBA draft.

He signed with his hometown favourite, Golden State Warriors but spent most of the 2010 season on the inactive list.

Three times that year he was sent down to the developmental league then called back up to the Warriors. 

He finished his rookie season averaging 2.6 points per game playing in 29 games for the Warriors.

Lin sought the advice of coaches on his weaknesses, then hired a shooting coach during the off season and worked hard to improve his shot.  

On the first day of the 2011 training camp the Warriors waived Lin. The Houston Rockets claimed him off waivers three days later.

Lin played seven minutes in two pre-season games for the Rockets. The Rockets waived Lin on Christmas Eve.

On December 27th the Knicks signed Lin as a back-up. Three weeks later, he was sent back to the developmental league.

On January 23rd Lin was called back up by the Knicks.

On February 4th Lin had 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 7 assists in a victory over the Nets.

Then the LINsanity started!

Look how long it took Jeremy Lin to become an “overnight” success. Look at that roller coaster of emotions. No scholarship offers? Not drafted? Cut on Christmas Eve? Yes, Lin admitted to crying. Yes, Lin admits that he thought about quitting.

The Roman philosopher Seneca once stated, “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”

The problem is most of us see a guy like Lin and focus on the eye-popping lightning storm of his success. We don’t want to look at the ugly, monotonous, boring dust storm that was his preparation.

The second part of the Jeremy Lin story that inspires us is that he kept fighting and working until he found the right situation for his talents. He had to land in the right environment with the right coach to become a “sensation.” Mike D’Antoni was indeed the right coach to use the skill set that Lin had, but it took timing and misfortune of having stars Carmelo Anthony and Amar’e Stoudemire out for Lin to be given room to operate in his own style. Ironically, people are now wondering if superstar Anthony is the one that can fit in with the formerly unknown Jeremy Lin.

The lessons from Jeremy Lin’s story are many. Believe… Persevere... Practice… Improve… Believe… Persevere… Practice… Improve…

And in the end you have to find the right place, the right time, the right environment, the right coach that will allow you to unleash your greatest potential.

So if you are not there keep searching, because only you can find the place and the people that set you on your path to success!

Story time is over, now this is about you as a leader.

Who is your Jeremy Lin?  Who on your team have you “decided” on?  We are not talking about your high potential person on that list in the succession plan.  We are talking about your third stringer, the person that you “know” will always be a marginal performer.

What do you really know?

Have you given them reins and a chance to perform?

Or are you stifling them with your assessment of their potential?

Jeremy Lin is a basketball player. He has, and is, working hard at his craft. He certainly hasn’t given up or felt sorry for himself, but this story is as much about coaches and scouts and leaders as is it about Jeremy.

The best leaders look for and see the potential in their team members.  If you don’t see it, you won’t give people an opportunity to use it, develop it, and move towards that potential.

Do you see third string guards or Jeremy Lins?

Be careful what you look for, you are very likely to find it.

Positive Leadership: Lessons from Linsanity