*Bringing competitive fire to the everyday is a choice. Here's what I've learned about bringing contagious energy to work each day... [...read part 1 here...]*
COMMUNICATE COMPETITIVE FIRE Communication is such an important skill and it has a lot of nuances to it. I'm not going to tackle all of these nuances, I'm simply making this recommendation. Be very intentional about how you communicate. Especially, when it comes to routine emails, meetings, and public presentations. Your preparation and intentional thinking (or lack thereof) has a big impact on how you are able to energize the people you are communicating with. If you are thoroughly prepared it shows a commitment to excellence that only those with real competitive fire possess. The awesome thing is that anyone can do this which means anyone can be a great daily competitor.
INTENTIONAL BODY LANGUAGE AND VOICE TONE DURING STRESS The Navy SEALS are often credited with promoting the idea that during intense stress no one rises to the occasion, they simply fall to their level of preparation. Great competitors take stress and use it as a way to galvanize their team together rather than let it tear their team apart. This doesn't happen unless you are regularly reading, listening, and learning about the value of such things. Legendary basketball coach, Dick Bennett, says 'calm is contagious'. Use your body language and voice tone during stressful situations to focus your team to action and demonstrate what type of competitor you actually are; a focused one.
POINT ATTENTION FROM TODAY TO TOMORROW 'Plant today, harvest tomorrow'. Bobby Knight, the famous and controversial championship college basketball coach, was often quoted as saying that, 'Everyone has the will to win. That's not special. What's special is those that have the will to prepare to win.' The greatest competitors know how to invest in today so that it has an impact on tomorrow. The great leaders of competitors know how to point the attention of their teams on how today is impacting tomorrow.
These five areas: daily routines, mundane tasks, communication, body language and tone during stress, and connecting today to tomorrow are were the competitive fire of the everyday is demonstrated! Bring it!
Keep on keepin’ on, friends!
I recently looked out my front window and saw a landscaping crew pull up to my neighbors yard. The truck had barely come to a complete stop when one of the workers stepped out with his weed eater in hand, yanked the pull chord one time, and barreled down the sidewalk edging the grass. He attacked that lawn!
Head football coach, Pete Carroll, has won a college football national championship with the University of Southern California and Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks. Coach Carroll believes leaders are responsible to bring the gift of energy to their teams every single day. He goes on to state that one of the great leadership failures is not bringing an enthusiasm for the work on the days that it is most needed. I would wholeheartedly agree with this and another way I describe it is 'competitive fire for the everyday.' I opened up my thoughts on this and made two recommendations in part 1 of this post.
Head football coach, Pete Carroll, has won a college football national championship with the University of Southern California and Super Bowl championship with the Seattle Seahawks. Coach Carroll believes leaders are responsible to bring the gift of energy to their teams every single day. He goes on to state that one of the great leadership failures is not bringing an enthusiasm for the work on the days that it is most needed. I would wholeheartedly agree with this and another way I describe it is 'competitive fire for the everyday.' I opened up my thoughts on this and made two recommendations in part 1 of this post.
Here are three more areas that I think leaders need to make sure they are bringing the competitive fire to their everyday.
COMMUNICATE COMPETITIVE FIRE Communication is such an important skill and it has a lot of nuances to it. I'm not going to tackle all of these nuances, I'm simply making this recommendation. Be very intentional about how you communicate. Especially, when it comes to routine emails, meetings, and public presentations. Your preparation and intentional thinking (or lack thereof) has a big impact on how you are able to energize the people you are communicating with. If you are thoroughly prepared it shows a commitment to excellence that only those with real competitive fire possess. The awesome thing is that anyone can do this which means anyone can be a great daily competitor.
INTENTIONAL BODY LANGUAGE AND VOICE TONE DURING STRESS The Navy SEALS are often credited with promoting the idea that during intense stress no one rises to the occasion, they simply fall to their level of preparation. Great competitors take stress and use it as a way to galvanize their team together rather than let it tear their team apart. This doesn't happen unless you are regularly reading, listening, and learning about the value of such things. Legendary basketball coach, Dick Bennett, says 'calm is contagious'. Use your body language and voice tone during stressful situations to focus your team to action and demonstrate what type of competitor you actually are; a focused one.
POINT ATTENTION FROM TODAY TO TOMORROW 'Plant today, harvest tomorrow'. Bobby Knight, the famous and controversial championship college basketball coach, was often quoted as saying that, 'Everyone has the will to win. That's not special. What's special is those that have the will to prepare to win.' The greatest competitors know how to invest in today so that it has an impact on tomorrow. The great leaders of competitors know how to point the attention of their teams on how today is impacting tomorrow.
These five areas: daily routines, mundane tasks, communication, body language and tone during stress, and connecting today to tomorrow are were the competitive fire of the everyday is demonstrated! Bring it!
Keep on keepin’ on, friends!
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on relentlessly leading yourself and others well. Read about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader with more than two decades of experience. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
Comments
Post a Comment