Leadership Lessons from Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance” Episode 1

Leadership Lessons from Michael Jordan’s “The Last Dance” Episode 1

by | Leadership, Personal Development

Image Credit: ESPN

Leading Without A Voice

Like a lot of other sports fans, I’ve been watching ESPN’s “The Last Dance” which is a 10 part documentary series about Michael Jordan’s last year with the Chicago Bulls. But I’m not just watching this from a sport’s perspective. I’m looking for ONE leadership nugget from each episode.

And let me get one thing out of the way. In no way do I believe that Michael Jordan is perfect and that we should copy him and his obsession with competition. But I do believe there’s so much we can learn from his wins and his losses.

[UPDATE: Due to the positive feedback I received on this series I turned it into a short book called “Lead Like Mike”. If you want to support me and read the ten posts all in one place you can now order it here.

Lead Like Mike book

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So, without giving too much away there was a scene in episode 1 where Michael Jordan, who at that time was rookie, observed his teammates participating in things he didn’t agree with. He was given an opportunity to join but instead, he literally walked away. He didn’t criticize anyone, complain, or report it.

Reflecting on that moment, Michael explained that as an unproven rookie, he felt he didn’t have a voice to speak out. So, he said, “I had to lead with my actions.”

“I had to lead with my actions.”

Michael Jordan

For the remainder of the season, Michael stayed in his room when he wasn’t practicing or playing. He avoided anything that was counterproductive to him becoming a better athlete and winning. 

To some extent, Michael was an outcast early on for not joining the “cool kids” and for being so extreme. But that moment was such a pivotal experience in his life and career that he remembers it as being foundational.

Eventually, Michael would grow into a more vocal leader. But at the beginning, Jordan set himself apart from the others without even touching a basketball.

LESSON #1: You can lead without being THE leader as long as you are A leader. You don’t need a voice or a platform to start leading. This is something I go into more detail in my book Leader by Choice and it’s so critical.

You don’t need to be in a leadership role to start acting like the change you want to see. You just have to DECIDE you want to be A Leader. And you don’t need to wait for someone to give you a promotion or a fancy title because leadership is earned.

There are people in leadership positions who are NOT leading. And there are people without titles who ARE leading.

Don’t wait for someone to give you permission to lead since that day might not come. Even if you’re not “the boss” or in charge, you can lead. In fact, you have an opportunity and a responsibility to lead. And it starts by leading yourself.

The reality is that you can’t lead others until you’ve started leading yourself. If you don’t “walk the talk” you don’t have any credibility so why would anyone listen to you?

You can’t lead without being respected. And you can’t be respected if you can’t lead with your actions.  Leaders are like magnates. Their actions repel some people, but they also attract the right people. But it starts with your actions.

So, are you leading now with your actions or are you waiting for permission?

If you like this post, and want to increase your leadership I.Q check out my book, “Leader by Choice.”

Some of the reviews:

“I think everyone can benefit from reading this, but especially those who feel they are held back by their past.”

“I read a lot of leadership books but few are as accessible, personal, and action-oriented as this one.”

“This was just the book I needed (as someone who has been in middle management for a while, but feeling stuck. Mid life!).” 

“Leader by Choice is a must read! Do yourself, or someone you care about, a favor and order the paperback version of this book.”

Are You Living Life on Your Terms?

Are You Living Life on Your Terms?

by | Personal Development

Are You Living Life on Your Terms?

Photo credit- Edu Lauton

Whenever I meet someone who is crushing life I get so pumped. It’s contagious.

Seeing someone — in person and not just on a screen — who is living life on their terms is inspiring and encouraging. Are you one of those people?

I recently met someone like this.

I’m not a dog lover, but I promised my daughter she could have a SECOND dog.  I had given her what I thought was an impossible athletic (tennis) goal and she reached it!

So now I have keep my promise! I think one day she’ll be playing against Naomi Osaka!  

Anyways, back to my story…

So, my family and I visited a German Shepherd breeder’s house located in this secluded area on a dusty road on the outskirts of Pretoria (in South Africa).  We were greeted by this friendly older woman named Christel and her two large German Shepherds that were behind a fence in the front yard.

After playing with 3 German Shepherd puppies Christel brought for us, my daughter picked the calmest one of the bunch.

After paying and going over the paperwork, my wife and I engaged in some friendly conversation with the breeder. With a huge smile on her face, Christel said she was originally from Belgium, but loved living in South Africa.

In South Africa, she explained, she could live her dream life (facilitated by a lower cost of living possibly). What’s her dream life, you ask?

She said she always wanted to live near her children and now her two daughters, and grandchildren, lived next door. 

My wife and I would love to stay close to our daughters too one day so we could relate to her joy.

There are so many quotes about “dreaming big” and “reaching for the stars”, but maybe we we’ll be happier if we just identify what we really want instead of superficial stuff that other people want.

When was the last time you asked yourself-

What makes YOU happy?

Sometimes we aim for goals that aren’t really important in the long-term or we might choose things only to impress others.

Even worse, we might pursue things only because that’s what other people want.

Forget about what other people want. Let’s be selfish for a bit.

What do YOU want?

How do YOU want to be living 5 years from now?

What will give you more life fulfillment?

This woman didn’t seem like a multi-millionaire, but she seemed to be truly living her dream life. 

Have you spent any time this year thinking about your ideal life and what tiny steps you can take today to get there? We invest so much time watching media (news, social media, Netflix, etc) but what’s our Return on Investment for that?

As we approach the end of year, don’t forget to invest some time reflecting on what you want to see more of next year in your life. Take out a journal and write about your ideal future, the things you’d like to accomplish, and what actions you can take to move toward that vision.

Living life on your terms doesn’t have to be some crazy goal. But it does require we know what we want.

So, what does living life on YOUR terms look like to you?

 

 

 

3 Things Nelson Mandela Can Teach Us About Influence (Part 1)

3 Things Nelson Mandela Can Teach Us About Influence (Part 1)

by | Leadership, Personal Development

3 Things Nelson Mandela Can Teach Us About Influence (Part 1)

Then-President Nelson Mandela revisits his South African prison cell on Robben Island, where he spent 18 of his 27 years in prison, in 1994. (Jurgen Schadeberg / Getty Images)

In preparation for my move to South Africa I’ve been learning about the country by reading about Nelson Mandela. I recently read the book “Playing The Enemy” by John Carlin which was turned into the Hollywood film “Invictus” starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Once again, the book is 100 times better than the movie.

As I read the book, I picked up on three distinctive and practical things about Mandela’s leadership and especially ability to influence that I wanted to share and remember myself.

I’ll devote one blog post to each of the three traits I found. Why 3 separate posts? Because I have a day job and don’t have time to spend all day writing.

Okay so back to the story…

While serving over 27 years in prison, it was around Mandela’s 11th year of incarceration that he decided to change the methods he was using to pursue the end of apartheid (defined “as a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race.”)

Mandela went from a more militant tactic to a softer and collaborative approach.

His goal was the same, but the strategy changed.

To fight against apartheid and all the injustices black South Africans suffered mostly at the hands of the Afrikaners, “South Africa’s dominant white tribe” as Carlin describes them, Mandela started by winning over his prison guards.

He believed that if he could influence his prison guards to work with him, he could persuade the entire white population of South Africa to do the same. After convincing one of his guards to loan him a “hot plate” to heat his food — this was forbidden– Mandela convinced himself his plan was possible.

So how did he influence the guard?

By showing dignity and respect.

Seriously. That was it.

He won over the first guard by giving him the very thing Mandela has being denied him. Respect.

He showed the prison guards so much respect they eventually started treating him differently. But he never accepted any treatment that was deemed to be make him feel inferior.  

Those years in prison gave Mandela time to reflect. Instead of seeing white people as an “enemy” he showed them as much respect as possible by studying their culture, history, and even teaching himself their language.

During this transformative process he came to see Afrikaners not as racist or evil people, but as a group whose views on race at the time were “misguided” and in need of redemption.  

The second thing Mandela did was use emotional intelligence.

Mandela had every right to react to the poor treatment he was receiving from the criminal justice system by fighting back, resisting, or responding with violence. But he didn’t.

In the book “Getting Past No” the author, William Ury writes, 

“Objects react. Minds can choose not to.”

Mandela’s mind chose not to. And instead he did what Ury describes as “Going to the balcony” which is a,

“metaphor for a mental detachment. From the balcony you can calmly evaluate the conflict almost as if you were a third party. You can think constructively for both sides and look for a mutually satisfactory way to resolve the problem.”

So What’s the big idea?

Mandela’s goal wasn’t to beat and then punish Afrikaners, but to include them in the rebuilding of South Africa. He wanted to unify the country.

This reminds me of an African proverb an Ambassador I worked for loved to quote,

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

If we see others simply as enemies or an obstacle to our goals we’re losing out on the potential to have an alley and to collaboratively solve problems.  

Mandela teaches that you can–

Turn Your Enemy Into An Alley

 

Sometimes the enemy is not who or what we think it is. In this case, the real enemies were:

-Ignorance

– Fear of the unknown

– Hunger for political power

– Indifference to the struggles of others

– Inability for people to question cultural and political norms.

He realized his fight was against ignorance and fear and not against white South Africans. 

So what about you?

Are there any enemies or adversaries you can start to see as allies in order to accomplish a bigger goal?