65. Where do you stand?

Sporting analogies are used a lot in the Leadership Industry.

Teams, coaches, winners, losers, tenacity, grit, inspiration…

Most people who follow a team sport can name a great Coach who has led teams to success.

There’s one aspect of the “Coach as a Leader” story that’s critical but often missed,

It’s where they stand in the game.

There are 2 main groups in a team sport.

Players and Spectators.

Leaders stand between these two.

They connect to both.

Where a Leader stands relative to these two groups defines their leadership.

In organized team sports there is often a physical barrier, a fence or a line separating players from spectators.

Coaches mostly stand on that line.

Nobody at a football match mistakes the coach for a spectator or a player.

In businesses or organizations that line isn’t nearly as clear. There are plenty of leaders who carry the title but are actually just players.

Detailed, micro-managers. Want to play not direct. Don’t trust the players.

Sadly some are spectators.

They “lead” from a distance. Emotional or physical or both. Quick to blame, not across the details.

Not visible.

Not there at practice but always at the trophy ceremony.

At the core of the BalancedKaizen approach to leadership is the “place” a leader takes vs their “players” and their “spectators”

“Where a Leader stands…defines their leadership…”

Good leaders find a place on the edge.

You know your players.

You’re always watching the game.

You endure the boredom of meetings and discussions because you know it’s important for the players.

You’re not just with them to set targets, you’re with them along the way to trying to achieve them.

You feel the pain and share the happiness.

You let them play the game.

You take the heat from the spectators.

You fail when the team fails.

And your players know it.