leadership according to wayne bennett

Wayne Bennett is the most successful coach in Rugby League history, a best selling author and an inspiring speaker.

Whether you are a Rugby Leage fan or not, there is a lot to like about Wayne's philosophy on leadership. At a talk I saw him give this week he made it clear that there is a lot we can learn about creating winning teams from the way he has influenced those that have played under him. Here's a few key points he shared...

• If you've got a big ego and you don't like people, leadership is going to be a challenge for you.
• Credibility is vital if you want to be an effective leader.
• Keep leadership as simple as you possibly can - make it so simple that everyone can understands what they need to do.
• If you talk tough and act soft, you will fail. 
• As a leader you need to create an environment where people can be the best they can be.

After his talk, Wayne invited questions from the maily business audience. One question that he was asked was "when do you know when it's time to let someone go?" to which he answered, "when you see them no longer trying to improve." Put this in the context of a leader needing to create an environment where people can be their best, and you can see how important it is to develop leadership capability in our organisations.

The thing I like most about his thoughts on leadership is that we need to keep it simple. Makes sense to me.

Cheers

Greg

Women have less teeth than men - or so Aristotle reckoned.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle believed that women had less teeth than men. The way he reached that conclusion was simple - he just decided it must be so.

Many managers and leaders also believe certain things to be true and base their decisions on these beliefs. But if they sought the facts, like Aristotle should have, they would find that they could well be making important decisions on false assumptions or misconceptions.

We should be obsessed with getting the facts. Sherlock Holmes said "It is a capital mistake to theorise in advance of the facts". As leaders we are expected to make quick and correct decisions, and so we should. But we also should be aware of the need to reassess what we think is the truth. Balance the need for speed and accuracy with the desire for the facts.

After all, all Aristotle had to do was to ask his wife to open up wide!

Cheers

Greg

tips on failing - fail fast and fail forward

No one wants to fail, but we know that we will. The only way to not fail is to not do anything, and that's not an option, particularly for leaders.
 
So, if we know we are going to fail at some stage, why not do it in the best ways possible?

Tip 1: Fail Fast. If something is going wrong, best you know about it asap. Once you know that whatever you are doing is not going to work, you can either stop it or take actions to remedy the situation. This means that we need to closely monitor what we do and be decisive.

Tip 2: Fail Forward. You tried something, it didn't work. You ask questions about why it didn't work, what went wrong and what we would do better next time. Put simply, we must learn from mistakes, then move forward. Fail forward in fact.

Don't be afraid of failing. It takes courage to be a leader. 

Cheers

Greg

Lead like a strawberry not like a watermelon

Piper Cameron is 11 years old and lives in Singleton, in the Hunter Valley of NSW. She is part of her school's leadership team. A couple of weeks ago she went to her Dad, Michael and said "Dad, I learned something today. We should lead like a strawberry, not like a watermelon."

Michael was intrigued and asked her what she meant. "Well, a strawberry is the same on the inside as it is on the outside, but a watermelon is very different on the inside than it looks on the outside. As leaders we should be the same on the outside as we are on the inside."

Piper understands a simple yet powerful aspect of leadership - authenticity.  Good one Piper and thanks Mick for letting me share this story.
 
Cheers

Greg

Things are never as good or as bad as they first seem

This is not a glass half full / half empty issue as you might think. It's just a reminder that leaders need to keep perspective in good times and in bad.
 
In good times - when we've had a major success or things go exactly to plan, it's good to celebrate and acknowledge work well done. We shouldn't let short term success go to our head and then become complacent.

When we've had a serious setback or things are looking bleak, it's no time to over react, throw in the towel or become overwhelmed and negative.

Leaders need to maintain their composure and their confidence no matter what the prevailing conditions. We need to be calm, composed and balanced.  So, whether you're riding out a storm, or making hay while the sun shines, just know that it's not going to last forever and get ready for whatever is coming next. 

Cheers

Greg