Leadership Principles from the world of Sport
Sports teaches us life lessons might sound cliché but, in some cases, this cliché holds true.
What makes Super Champions?
Sabrina Ionescu is the most dominant basketball player. She is a world record holder for triple doubles for men and women (A triple-double is achieved when a player records a double-digit total in three of the following categories: points, total rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks)
She was born to immigrant parents and has a twin brother. She honed her early competitiveness from the psychological drive to beat her brother. They competed in everything – chores, racing, who can get in bed first etc. There was a natural inclination and push towards competing and that didn’t come from parenting. This is an example of a study called “Talent needs Trauma” which indicates that there needs to be some sort of challenge to showcase your talent and that “trauma” isn’t always negative.
Sabrina is a “Super Champion”. These are the 4 attributes of Super Champions (as per the research by Dave Collins & his colleagues):
1. They are individuals who are internally driven and have the obsession to be the best which is not pressed upon them by a mentor, coach or a parental figure.
2. Parents care deeply in a supportive way and not “helicopter parenting” way. Sabrina’s parents cheered her and Sabrina’s coach let her develop along with parent’s support.
3. Good mentorship and coaching. Her coach knew she was going to be good but didn’t exploit that fact. He was patient. This is important when you are nurturing talent.
Most professions are pressure cooker professions - music, math, dance, theatre, corporate - all of them (remember the movie ‘Whiplash’?). If you become the drive as a parent, mentor or leader, you are sapping the person of their internal drive.
4. The best goal is just to get better. People get motivated to be driven by paycheck (true in some instances) but if you follow your interests, you will do it for other reasons. Monetary success is a byproduct. If we look at all motivation theories in psychology, all point to the same thing. When push comes to shove, motivation by money is not the primary driver for most people. When you are a kid, there is no problem in finding things you are interested in. As adults we lose that habit of trying. We need to match our drive to something that captures our interest and if it’s interesting enough, it will capture for a long time.
Super Champions are also humans
Sabrina struggled to connect with her team mates. This is common in highly driven people in corporate environment, athletics, arts etc. When you have a super drive, a lot of times you can’t relate to athletes who have a normal drive. You think they are slacking off but they aren’t. In your head, your bar is high and no one wants to work with you. Sabrina had the self-awareness to realize and apologize for that.
Leadership should not be about “not apologizing”. Be self-aware and realize that its ok to apologize. Whether you are super driven like Sabrina Ionescu or working with someone who is super driven, it’s important to know where you fall in that spectrum and level expectations.
Not everyone can be super driven. When you start a company with a few people, everybody is obsessed. When it grows to 5 people most people are still obsessed. When it grows beyond that, those people start thinking of themselves as employees and not co-founders. They start to resent the people they hired because latter doesn’t care as much. The key is to know where you fall and where your colleagues fall and not resenting people who don’t have the same drive as you or vice versa.
The notion of grounded optimism
Dr. Anthony Fauci had to hone his leadership skills not in the ivory tower but as a scrawny high-school athlete. The basketball team at Regis High School had a 1-16 record fully expecting to leave with yet another loss. The other team’s star was a future NBA coach. Regis was led by an unusually small future doctor. His teammates looked at him for leadership then & they’re still doing it more than 60 years later. Fauci was optimistic and grounded in reality when it came to winning that match then and is so even now. When you hear him speak, you sense a tone of optimism. These characteristics shine out.
Sports teaches us the notion of grounded optimism. Grounded meaning, acknowledging what’s going on and optimism is trying to be optimistic about it. It’s a helpful attitude that athletic pursuits can help young people and adults cultivate.
Bottom line:
1. Follow your interests. Don’t be externally pressured to do things
2. Parents/Mentors/Leaders should care and be supportive but not as “helicopter” parents/mentors/leaders
3. Good mentorship and coaching – patience is key
4. The best goal is to get better, not worrying about winning XYZ games
5. As a leader, it’s ok to apologize
6. Notion of “grounded optimism”
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