I have written this post for young athletes who aspire to be leaders; however, I believe these concepts can be employed by individuals of any age and in any setting. I have never formally been titled a leader, but less than three months after joining The Spot Athletics family, I have been entrusted with the role and title of Director of Client Experience. While this is a great honor, I understand that titles do not make leaders.
Take a moment and think about what comes to mind when you think about a leader. Who do you envision? Is it the CEO of a major company? Is it a high-ranking officer in the military? What about the captain of your team? Now that you have the image in your head, start to think about “is this person a leader?” What makes them a leader, or why are they not a leader? What characteristics do they have that make them a leader.
Have you been given the title of a leader? Are you in a position where you’re not sure if others should be following your example? You may not be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, an Army general or a sports captain, but you can be a leader. You must first answer a couple additional questions before moving along in this process.
Why do you want to lead?
If the answer to this question is because you want a position of power, you are not ready to lead. If the answer is because you want to become popular, you are not ready to lead. If the answer is because you work hard and do everything that is required of you, then you’re getting closer but still may not be ready to lead. I am not saying these are bad reasons to want to lead; I just believe there are more important reasons to become a leader.
Your desire to become a leader cannot be selfish, and it must be bigger than yourself. As a leader, there may be times when your actions may make you unpopular. It’s not a bad thing; your decisions are built on the betterment of your team or organization, not what is going to make you popular. Your goal as a leader isn’t to make as many friends as possible; rather, it is to create an improved team and more cohesive environment. Ideally, said environment breeds future leaders who are able to learn from your successes and failures.
2. How will you lead?
Will you lead by instilling fear in your followers, or by empowering them to do better? Dependent upon your position, you may be in a place to threaten to withhold things. Do you demand your followers achieve a certain goal and take something away if they don’t? Are you the type of leader who makes the freshmen, interns, or new person do the minuscule jobs because that's what you were made to do when you were in their shoes? Are you going to lead by making sure you do all that is asked of you from coaches or the people above you? What you need to ask yourself is, “am I going to do what everyone has done before me, or am I going to be the leader that does what everyone needs me to do?”
Leadership Thoughts
The year I spent as a Master Fitness Trainer Instructor with the United States Army, I learned the term “servant leadership.” In my humble opinion, this is the best and most effective way to lead, whether you’re a high school athlete or a Fortune 500 CEO. Servant leadership is leading from the front; it is not asking others to do things that you are not willing to do yourself. You don’t have to be the best at something to be willing to do it; you just need to show that you’ll roll up your sleeves and get dirty alongside everyone else. It also means that you are not above serving others. You go beyond your duties to ensure the needs of the team, organization, and the people are being served to set them up for success. This requires an extreme amount of selflessness, but in the end, those you lead will run through brick walls for you.
Being a leader is not always going to be fun. You will not always be popular. You will, however, create a culture of winning and success. You will have a team of people who have your back. You will impact people. You will create leaders!
Being a leader is not for everyone; we need followers too. Followers want a person they can trust, they want a leader who can empathize, and most importantly, someone who has their back and will do everything possible to set them up for success. Remember, whether or not you have a title of a leader, leadership is a process that can be improved. Start working on your leadership today!