By Donna Goss & Don Robertson
Co-Directors, Leadership Development Institute

Sports figures become very visible models for success.  By being thrust into the limelight, they have the opportunity to send powerful messages of what is appropriate and whether intentional or not, they send a strong message to viewers.  This opportunity can certainly be a great chance for high profile athletes to set an example for all of us, kids in particular, model but it doesn't always play out that way. 

Take the recent saga of 'T.O.', (Terrell Owens) of the Philadelphia Eagles. As the pre-season started several weeks ago, the spotlight became focused on him at a national level.  Let's think about the message he sent to the general public --  If you don't get what you want, stop communicating and just comply with what you are told to; hardly a formula for high performance. 

As Sports Writer Dan Gelston reported for First Coast News about the training camp:

The Eagles couldn't have been shocked over the latest twist in a controversial career. Owens told the team he wouldn't be happy when he reported if he didn't have a new contract, and said he could be disruptive in camp. He was. "What we see happening is exactly what he said was going to happen," Banner (team president) said. "It kind of puts you in a hard position to then have any kind of deniability. You can try to blame other people if he wants, but it's a little bit of a stretch in credibility in light of what he said before he got here."

Think of the difference in Owens' message if he would have simply stated his disappointment in his contract, said he was leaving his agent to try to work things out, and went about the business of practicing hard and playing the way he played last year.  What would have that done for his credibility?  What would it have done to facilitate some possible resolution with the Eagles management?  How would it have impacted his followers?  Instead, look at how those questions have been answered today. 

In our opinion, being a member of a high performing team requires: commitment to a common goal or purpose, on-going communication to be able to identify opportunities for higher performance, and putting the team above oneself.  Whether in sports or in business, those elements hold true.  Leadership plays a key role in developing and sustaining such high performance.  

Take another example that crosses to the other extreme.  Mike Krzyzewski, better known as Coach K of the nationally prominent Duke University basketball program, exemplifies how leadership can build a high level of success through teamwork.  Coach K looks at his team as a family and everything he does focuses on making that family highly functional.  The result, a basketball program in one of the most competitive sports in college athletics, that is considered to be premier by even those who are its toughest competitors.  In an interview on 60 Minutes in 2002, Mike spoke to the importance of family.  Krzyzewski believes it is how players relate to one another and how they feel that translates into the execution of all the strategies and plays designed to enable the team to succeed.  Being in the family means a deep commitment of the leader to the team and a deep commitment of the team to fulfill the leader's expectations.  Again, how does that play out in business?  We suggest exactly the same.  Organizational leaders set the direction, get employees excited about what they can accomplish together, and then set the environment that helps employees feel like a family that is committed to both the business and each other.   

So as we look at ourselves, how is what we are doing impacting our credibility?  Are we setting the example of what we expect of our teams?  Is our organization committed to a common goal or purpose?  Hopefully so; if not, the opportunity is there to start doing things differently.

Reference:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/sports/news-article.aspx?storyid=42290, accessed September 9, 2005.

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