Peyton
Tonight I learned a lesson on leadership. During the NFL opener, for a series of plays NBC continually listened in to Peyton Manning as he led the Colts down the field. He got three plays, lined up in the no huddle offense, scoped out the defense and called the appropriate play, and then changed it if he saw something. There was a strategy foundation that allowed the person directly responsible for his team to pick the best option available to him.
Giving leaders of various areas the fundamental strategy with the scope of calling various plays when they see fit is necessary for any organziation to achieve their goal. I have always pushed this with teams I worked with. Sometimes it has hurt us, but the result is always growing for them, me and the organziation. And generally, it always enhanced us when they had the option of calling an audible had to be called at the last second. They weren’t weighed down with policies and procedures. Or they knew to break them when necessary. Tonight reinforced it and made me think about how I give the strategy foundation but may expect them to have ideas on what to do when they get to “the line” rather than give a few possibilites….then if they like something else to take that instead. If it works..rock on and we learn. If it doesn’t… that sucks and we learn still, thus enhancing what we do in the future.
Eric, another leadership lesson I learned watching football occurred Monday night with the Bengals-Ravens game.
Carson Palmer, the emerging star of the Bengals shared a book that really helped him with his confidence in leadership. It’s called ” It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy”
If the title alone won’t compel you to run over to B&N, then an endorsement from a fellow hockey player should!
Enjoy,
CM