LEADERS BUILD AND CULTIVATE POSITIVE CULTURES
During the four years of this weekly leadership newsletter, I have sometimes leaned into my enjoyment of sports to make a point that applies to leaders in all industries or organizations.
Sports, after all, is a serious business with millions of dollars at stake every season. The word “team” is always used with sports organizations, but we know that the word “team” also applies to both for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in all areas of business.
I believe that the word” team” is an important element of every good leader’s vocabulary. In fact, as I have enjoyed the privilege of working with many non-profit organizations as a volunteer leader during the past 45 years, I have encouraged the paid leaders with whom I have had the pleasure of working to make a small change in their language.
I have asked them to consider deleting the word “staff” from their common parlance and substitute the word “team.” For me, “team” denotes a different mindset than “staff.” When I was younger, I frequently heard leaders refer to “my staff.” I knew what they meant to indicate – that these employees reported to them on a daily basis.
For, me however, that phrase did not ring a bell. Leaders did not “own” their staff members. Each staff member could choose to leave every day. Hopefully, they stayed on the job at their organizations because they chose to do so.
For me, the words “my staff” reflected a certain kind of culture, a culture where everyone:
– looked up to the leader,
-followed the leader,
-tried to read the mind of the leader,
-strived to please the leader,
-endeavored to anticipate the leader’s needs, and
-got together privately to read the leader’s moods
Leaders who habitually use the word “team” instead of “staff” are, in my opinion, attempting to build and maintain a culture of collaboration, open communication, mutual respect and fair treatment.
I was reminded of these leadership lessons this past week when I read about the New York Giants’ pursuit of John Harbaugh as their next head coach. For 17 years, Harbaugh coached the Baltimore Ravens, leading them to the NFL playoffs many times and winning one Super Bowl. Last week, he was fired by the Ravens’ owner and immediately became the number one candidate for the seven teams seeking a new coach.
As a Giants fan – yes, you can feel sorry for me – I hoped that the Giants would entice Harbaugh to choose them as his next team. I felt more strongly about that after I read about Harbaugh’s leadership philosophy and priorities. See how many of these you can identify with as I quote a story from The Athletic.
-He believes in setting the tone from the top
-He is a culture-builder
-He fosters a team-first mindset
-He gets everybody moving in the right direction
-He weeds out those who don’t fit with the culture he’s trying to build
-He does not tolerate nonsense
-He’s not afraid of confrontation, believing it can be good for the team
-He demands complete organizational buy-in
-If something’s not up to par, he’s not afraid to challenge people to make sure it gets fixed
-He communicates with team members and evolves as a leader
-He develops the young leaders around him
-He listens to people’s opinions with an open mind and is not afraid to change his own mind based on input from trusted team members
-He helps foster a collaborative decision-making process and does not mind disagreement
-He is willing to look inward to improve and evolve as a leader
Remember that in business and in volunteer organizations, we can all learn much from other successful and effective leaders, whether they are CEOs, Deans, Senior Directors or football coaches. So please review this list a few times.
How many of these characteristics can you claim as your own?
What lessons can you take away to improve your own management?
Which will you focus upon as aspirational leadership traits in 2026?
If you believe this content would resonate with a friend or colleague, please feel free to forward it along!
-Larry