Monthly Archives: March 2014

I recently read an article encouraging leaders to think often about their leadership legacy.

The article stated, “And a legacy takes time to build so the sooner you define it and think about it, the higher your odds are of successfully doing it.”

It went on to say, “We want to improve the world beyond our immediate span of control. That’s why proactively thinking about your legacy is so critical.”

When I think of the great leaders I have been blessed to work with, I could not disagree more. I don’t think the great ones think about their legacy at all. They simply go to work, roll up their sleeves, and give the day their best effort.

When all is said and done, I think the best leaders do three things:

• They remain life-long learners in their business. They know there is so much to learn about their work and they strive to learn every day.
• They have great energy and they consistently give their best effort. They don’t give effort periodically; they practice consistency of effort.
• Most importantly, they care about the people in their charge beyond the narrow confines of a work-place. And those working for him/her know that care is genuine.

I believe that because great leaders are so busy spending their time working on the above three concepts, they literally don’t have time to think about their legacy. They are too busy doing what counts.

At the end of the day, great leaders don’t concern themselves with their legacy. Others think about and often honor their legacy but the leaders themselves don’t take the time to do so.

Bob Knight, one of the winningest coaches in college basketball history, once said the game ultimately comes down to two things – simplicity and execution.

I think the worst thing teachers, coaches, and leaders can do is to complicate their teaching. And it is easy to do so. A good lesson for me in keeping it simple was when our coaching staff would draw up a new play for our team. On paper, it seemed simple. However, inevitably when we brought it to the floor, it was more complicated than we thought. We then had to tweak it immediately so the players would be more comfortable in its execution.

Pete Carril, the former greatly respected Princeton basketball coach, took simplicity to another level. He used to say you have to be good at what you do a lot. In basketball it’s dribbling, passing, and shooting. You may be spectacular at dunking. That’s great, except that you don’t do it very often in games. So, don’t spend an inordinate amount of time dunking, but do spend a great deal of time dribbling, passing, and shooting. The great ones – Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird – figured this out.

So, pause and determine what you have to do a lot as a leader. Is it speaking, listening, running meetings, strategic planning, problem solving? Whatever the main priorities are, work to get proficient at them.

You want to get good at what you do because ultimately your leadership efficiency will be judged on your execution. You have to get the job done. Leon Hillard of the Harlem Globetrotters kept execution simple when he said, “Don’t tell me; show me.” Leaders can do all the talking they want but it amounts to nothing if the organization’s plans are not executed.

Simplicity and Execution. Simplicity, all of us knowing what the plans are and all of us on the same page, leads to Execution.

A couple of weeks ago, Bob Knight, former Indiana basketball coach and current ESPN analyst, was talking to Wichita State University coach, Gregg Marshall, and Marshall asked Knight what they had to do to improve. Knight coached an undefeated team to the NCAA national championship and Marshall’s team finished the regular season this year at 31 – 0.

First, I thought it was great that Marshall asked this question. Too often when teams have a great season, their coaches get a little arrogant. But here is a coach of an undefeated team humbly asking another coach what they have to do to improve. That question was genuine because with the all the excitement and television coverage the NCAA tournament generates, it can become how a team is remembered, not the regular season.

Secondly, Knight did not hesitate to answer. He said keep your practices short so your players have their energy for the tournament games. Basketball is a long season and fatigue can take over at the season’s end. Coaches must manage individual and team fatigue as the season winds down.

My former coaches and I totally agreed with Coach Knight. In fact, we even took it a step further. Because we always wanted our players to practice hard, we would tell our kids at the onset how long the physical part of practice would last. Knowing it would be short in duration, the athletes would give all they had.

Can leaders take this thought process into their meetings?

I once heard this insight about meetings. “Meetings are people sitting around talking about things they ought to be doing.” How many times were you sitting through meetings thinking about all you had on your “To Do” list? Or, have you ever found yourself in a meeting and thinking about your next meeting that starts in 15 minutes? And because of this thinking, you may not have been giving all you had to the meeting.

Having spent forty-four years in education, I can attest to sitting through numerous meetings where I was thinking about all I had to do. I know my concentration was poor at best throughout the course of these meetings.

I do believe that keeping meetings short and meaningful is a great concept and that setting a time limit at the beginning of the meeting does keep everyone alert and participating. Fellow workers do appreciate leaders who keep meetings concise and moving.