Monthly Archives: November 2015

I have been speaking for twenty plus years on the importance of attitude in a leadership position and in 2013 published a book on this topic, Attitude – The Cornerstone of Leadership. I use the word, ATTITUDE, as an acronym and give each letter of the word a characteristic that might make for a quality leader. I’d like to give you a synthesis of the acronym and see what you think.

The A stands for attitude and asks the question does one person’s attitude make a difference? The attitudes of Adolf Hitler and Charles Manson made a difference as did the attitudes of Winston Churchill and Jackie Robinson. Therefore, it is important to note that a leader’s individual attitude can enhance an organization or detract from or even destroy an organization.

Teamwork is the T and teamwork definitively is the essence of athletics, but it transcends athletics. Bishop Roger Kaffer had this sign on his desk, “None of us is smarter than all of us” when he was the principal of Providence High School. He led by this maxim. He knew he had to make the final decisions but sought out the opinions of everyone on his cabinet so he could make the best decisions.

The second T is toughness. Once I ask audiences to think of the best teacher or coach they ever had, I then ask if that person was easy or demanding and tough. No hands are raised on easy but everyone’s hand goes up on tough. Leaders must be tough and if their toughness becomes an attribute of those whom they lead, then the leaders have given their people a great gift. The Reverend Robert Schuller confirms this in his outstanding book, Tough Times Don’t Last But Tough People Do.

The I represents Intelligence and I have seen two traits in the intelligent people whom I have worked with – a great ability to listen and perseverance to their core values.

The third T stands for Thank You. I once heard an historian state that neither the wealth of America nor the big-name politicians built this country, but the “nobodies,” the common man, did. How important is it for leaders to thank those in their organizations who receive little or no recognition?

The letter U is for the word, You. The only person who can make you learn or achieve is you. I believe we are making too many excuses today. We have to get back to telling people that YOU are responsible for YOUR body of work, no one but YOU.

D is Determination. I think any work of excellence, any achievement, is the work of people of determination. Most accomplishments have to overcome failure and this can only be done by determined people. As Pat Riley wrote, “Success is getting up one more time than you’ve been knocked down.”

E is for Effort. I used to think effort was the key to success in athletics, academics, or any endeavor. I no longer believe that because I have seen too many people who can give a great effort from Monday through Wednesday but cannot find that same effort from Thursday through Saturday. So, I came to the conclusion that effort is not enough; success demands Consistency of Effort.

I hope this synthesis of the book and the presentation I give makes you reflect on your leadership role.

I very seldom get angry over an athlete’s comments in the newspapers. I think you just kind of read the comments, give them little thought, and move on. However, we had something said recently that, I believe, made a lot of people in the Chicago area very angry.

At the initial Chicago Bulls media day to introduce the players to the fans for the upcoming season, Derrick Rose made some comments that were actually unbelievable. He said that free agency was coming up and he would have to look at his options. He then followed that up by saying he had to look at his son’s future.

Through no fault of his own, injuries have prevented him from hardly playing for the last three years and during all this time the Bulls coaches and management have been totally behind him. They consistently praised him for all the hard work he was doing in rehab, talked about how they were anxiously awaiting his return, and, of course, paid him his contract.

The Bulls have been extremely loyal to Rose so when he had the audacity to begin the 2015-16 year by indicating he would be looking into free agency, what was he thinking about? The purpose of the day was to get everyone excited about the new season with a new coach and he is talking about his free agency!

First of all, where did that come from? Why would he choose to take away from the enthusiasm and the excitement of the season kick-off? And what about his teammates who played so hard and unselfishly during his absence? And what about management that steadfastly stood behind him? He actually managed to ruin the day because so many of us saw it as a betrayal to his teammates and the organization.

Unfortunately, this was all people talked about. Almost no one talked about the new coach, the current players, and the hopes for the season.

The above was bad enough. Then he took it to the ridiculous. He said he had to consider free agency because he had to think about his son’s future. Most of us can relate to this. I’ll bet most of the people reading this blog have made approximately $280 million dollars the past seven years!

This entire ordeal may be a good lesson for leaders. Sometimes, certainly not all the time, we have to deal with employees whom we feel we have really gone out of our way to help, nurture, and promote only to have them leave us.

I think there is only one way to deal with this. Realize that ungratefulness and lack of loyalty are a sad part of life. Let them go, don’t dwell on them for a minute, and move on and serve the people who remain with you.