Bridging Leadership Lessons from the Workplace and Those Experiences Shaping Today's Youth and Tomorrow's Leaders
 One of the incredible things about March Madness is witnessing the good teams that have made it to postseason play. As a leadership junkie, I revel in the back stories, interviews, and interactions you see on the court with players and coaches. While all these teams are good teams, not all of them are great teams… with even fewer being IMPACT Teams.
A few weeks back, I wrote about IMPACT Teams and the importance of the KARS process and is the differentiator between great teams and IMPACT Teams. KARS is a method of making sure that the team embraces and honors the roles necessary for a group of individuals to move from a good team to a great team. KARS stands for: K – Knowing the Roles A – Accepting the Roles R – Respecting the Roles S – Starring in the Roles I talk about this now because with March Madness dominating the airways, it provides real time case studies to see the results in action. If you happened to watch the opening round match-up between the #6 seed Missouri Tigers and the #11 seed Drake Bulldogs, the impact of the KARS process was on full display. David vs Goliath You can read about Drake’s improbable year with a head coach who came from the NCAA DII level and brought 4 DII players from the program with him. To be fair, all they did at DII Northwest Missouri State University was win - as in four National Championships. That is what they kept doing at the DI level knocking off Power 4 opponents such as University of Miami, Vanderbilt, Kansas State, & eventually, Mizzou. Drake was able to defeat Mizzou, 67-57, despite everything stacked against them.
The Power of the Team How was Drake able to defeat Mizzou? It was the classic Team vs Individuals. Mizzou was the odds-on favorite. They competed in the vaunted SEC with 14 teams making the tournament. They had size, athleticism, speed, and length. Mizzou had 6 players who actively played taller than 6’8” versus 1 for Drake. Coach Gates, for Mizzou, has been coaching at the DI level for 21 years, the last 6 as a Head Coach. Coach McCollum of Drake is in his first year of DI coaching. Mizzou’s team consisted of players from Duke, Iowa, Iowa State, Indiana and South Carolina. Drake had 4 DII players from Northwest Missouri State University, 2 players from Wyoming and a juco player. It should have been a beat down… on paper or with the eye-test. But it wasn't. One team became an IMPACT Team which was the difference. The KARS process builds upon the first part of IMPACT Leadership where you focus on recognizing the value that everyone brings, and you build trust by improving how you communicate within the team. Moving forward in the KARS process, it is about aligning the team and individual goals to create and pursue a shared vision. This is the centerpiece of the process. Embracing the Role Drake was made up of Role Players with lone player Bennett Stirtz, who emerged as a superstar. As a sophomore he was a 2nd Team All-Conference performer for his DII school. Fast forward to this year and he was the Missouri Valley Player of the Year and an Honorable Mention All-American. Mitch Mascari, Drake’s long-range sniper, is a graduate student who also came from the DII program and upon securing a job after graduation, chose to put his Finance Career on hold for one more year to play with his teammates. Mizzou on the other hand is loaded with future professional basketball talent. Where each game is an audition for the big stage. They come to the team with stars and national rankings, with established NIL deals. While the Mizzou players also Know their roles, in watching them play this year, I’m not sure how Accepting they are of their roles. For instance, Drake is limited by the number of 3-point shooters that they have on their team. Non-shooters, if you will, are not putting up 3’s for them. But for Mizzou, the bigs know that the NBA likes bigs that can shoot, so they have a tendency to step out and put up the low percentage shot. Mark Mitchell, the Duke transfer, is a dominant inside player that should have and could have had a field day over the smaller Drake post players. But during the game, he kept floating out to the perimeter where he was considerably less of a threat to score. This isn’t meant to bash or criticize a team but to highlight the process and importance of Knowing, Accepting & Respecting the roles of individuals on a team. Then, once those 3 things are established, you can Star in your role. And sometimes, because of how you have embraced the KARS process, you will have the opportunity, because of the trust built through the process, to take on the role of the star when it is required. IMPACT Teams know that individually you need to improve and be the best you can be for you and the team. But what sets apart IMPACT Teams is the trust built through the process that allows the impact of the individuals, through the strength of the team, to be much greater than anything they could achieve on their own. Through being part of an IMPACT Team is how an individual creates a legacy of IMPACT Beyond Today.
1 Comment
  A common theme I write about is being the leader that you need to be and not the leader you like to be. Because leadership is NEVER about you!
Last week, I wrote about 4 Leadership Assumptions to Avoid. I mentioned IMPACT Leadership as a way to flex your leadership style to what is needed by your team members. Today, I’m going to break down what IMPACT Leadership is all about. Leaders Have to Flex When I was a new manager, I was introduced to Ken Blanchard’s Situational Leadership™ which focused on changing your leadership style to match the willingness and the ability of the employee. I really connected with this concept, but the quadrant tool and verbiage were clunky and did not translate well to the newer generation. So, I adapted this approach to my own teachings in the 3 Pillars of Impact and it evolved into IMPACT Leadership. To drive home the importance of a leader flexing to the needs of their team, we start with self-reflection. With which style are you most comfortable operating? Which is your preferred approach. Which has the least amount of stress. The Four Leadership Styles All four leadership styles are needed and have value. Each style has a time and place depending upon the team member. Many times, people will try to choose the one they THINK they should be instead of being honest with themselves about how they like to lead. Regardless of your comfort or preference, it’s not about you. Failure to recognize what is needed by your team member can lead to disengagement, toxicity, and turnover. That’s why we look internally first, to confirm our style, before looking externally at our team. Knowing Your Team Unlike the Leadership Styles, we use a Readiness Level to assess the team member. They are listed below in order based upon whether they have the necessary skills as well as the confidence or willingness to move forward. While there is a progression to their readiness level, it is not an all-encompassing categorization of the team member, it is associated with specific tasks and responsibilities. So, a person could be at a certain readiness level 90% of the time, but for a specific task they may drop or rise to a different level. Newbie - Lacking the skills, confidence, & willingness Typically, new to the team and lacks experience. Also, they may be familiar to the team but are gaining new responsibility. Think about a technical expert that gets promoted to a supervisory role because of their success. They have never been a manager and are not sure what to do. They have been an individual contributor and spent most time working alone. Growing - Lacking the skills but is confident & willing May not know what to do, but they are not afraid. Excited for the opportunity but need some guidance. Crossroads - Has ability but may lack confidence or willingness I use this to think about people that are being asked to take on an expanded role that may be out of their comfort zone. They may not feel that they have the ability, but you know they do. Also, found in people that are coasting and may be getting too comfortable in their role. Impact Player - Has ability, is confident & eager Get out of their way! These are the stars that you need to make sure have alignment on the purpose and then make sure they know that they are appreciated. Be the Leader Your Team Needs This is not one size fits all. Your leadership style needs to be adopted to the person AND the situation. In my very first management role almost 30 years ago, I wanted to be the empowering leader… I had read books! But, when it was a new team that didn’t have experience or confidence in the roles that were being asked of them, they struggled. They didn’t have clarity, nor did they know how to move forward. I failed them as a leader. I was the leader I wanted to be and not the leader they needed to be successful. Awareness is the unsung hero of great leaders. It is absolutely critical that a leader has self-awareness and awareness of those around them. You must understand the needs of your team - when they need temporary “micromanagement” to help learn skills and gain confidence, and when they simply need the encouraging words and validation that they are moving in the right direction. To be the leader your team needs, you need to lead them how they need to be led. Having alignment on why you are using that style is very important to help them with their own self-awareness. Your ability to flex is what will help your team continue to grow Beyond Today.  During some of my IMPACT Coaching sessions last week, I saw a pattern where experienced leaders fell into the Assumption Trap. You know what happens when you assume… that’s right you make an A$$ out of U and ME. But it is so easy to fall into the Assumption Trap, probably even more so for the experienced leader.
We will take a look at four common assumptions made by leaders. Assumption 1: Because I said to do it, they will do it. In your best imitation of Captain Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation you told your manager what you need and finish with a “Make it so…” and it doesn’t happen. It’s easy to get comfortable with your team. You know each other. They do a great job. They are proactive. We are on the same page. Then, on some days, they nod at you as if they understand and it never gets put into place. A Leadership Tool I use to help in this area I call Connecting the Whys. It is an essential tool used in creating a shared vision but also one essential in IMPACT Teams and Engaged Leadership. We will touch on Connecting the Whys as we look at the next two Leadership Assumptions that are typically buried in this first one. You need to Connect the Whys. Assumption 2: They understand what success looks like. Did you verify with them that when you said “Make it so” that they understood what “SO” means? Is their picture of “SO” the same as your “SO”? Did you deliver a suggestion or possibly a nice to have? Did you explain it was urgent or something that can happen when they get around to it? Did you explain the WHY? Just because it is clear in your mind doesn't mean it translated the same way to them. In my 3 Pillars of Impact, the 2nd Pillar is Expect Excellence in yourself and others. One of the activities we do is to identify, in detail, what success looks like for each of your team members. It’s amazing how when you ask a leader if their team member knows what success looks like they say yes, but when you follow that up with if I ask them to put it down on paper, without you in the room, will they say yes… they get quiet. You need to create understanding. Assumption 3: Since they say they understand, then we must be aligned. Just because they understand doesn’t mean they agree. Just because they may agree with you doesn’t mean that they are aligned on what needs to happen and how it needs to happen. Back to the Picard reference, even though you both understand what the “SO” means, it doesn’t mean you are aligned about how to make “SO” happen. As a leader, you need an understanding first on the importance of how the “SO” looks. If it’s not that important, then you must be prepared to accept their “SO” even if it doesn’t look like your “SO.” If it is important, the onus is on you to make sure you have alignment on what is “good enough”. You then must verify that expectations are established, understood and that there is clarity around the end-result. You need to make sure you have alignment. Assumption 4: Because you know each other well, you don’t have to change how you lead. “They know me." "They know what I mean." "They know how I operate.” Sound familiar? When we get comfortable with relationships or with positions, it’s easy to think things will move forward with momentum. That we have it all under control and that we know what we are doing. But that is the biggest Leadership Trap of all… we think we arrived, and that leadership comes naturally. In IMPACT Leadership, we remind people that Leadership is not about you, but about those you lead. You need to flex your leadership style based upon what is needed by your team member. (Next week, I will talk more about IMPACT Leadership) It’s not about how WE like to operate, it’s about what they need to be successful. Sometimes they simply need to be empowered to get it done. Other times, when they lack confidence because something is new or they lack some critical skills, we need to be more directive with our leadership approach. Leadership is not a one size fits all approach. Leaders need to flex their approach to what is needed to help the team succeed. Leaders need to be on the lookout for the Assumption Trap… it happens to new and experienced leaders alike. As a leader, you need to be vigilant so that you don’t make an A$$ out of U and ME, Beyond Today. |
AuthorTom Brown - a husband and a father who is simply trying to make a difference. Using my experience as a Manufacturing Executive to connect leadership from the boardroom to the hardwood to help teams grow and develop to make a difference in the lives of others. 
Archives
May 2025
Categories
All
|
RSS Feed