I am not sure where I found this, and don’t agree with all of it, but I think that there are some good thoughts that basketball coaches can use for themselves and their teams.
A leader…
1. has to have ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY, or it does not matter what else he or she has.
2. has to be WILLING AND ABLE TO DO WORK, or it does not matter what else he or she has.
3. has to be OBJECTIVE. If an executive could be described in one word, this would be it.
4. has to have LEADERSHIP, which is hard to define, but may be described as that quality in a person which makes others want to do what the leader wants them to do.
5. has COURAGE . I don’t want to get courage and bravery mixed up. If a neighbor has a mean dog and you are not afraid to go in his yard, this is bravery. If you are afraid but go in the yard anyway, this is courage. Courage is what makes someon buy natural resources for the company’s use in poor times when acreage,or leases are cheap.
6. has IMAGINATION. Most of the good things civilization has achieved are the result of somebody’s seeing, in his mind’s eye, how to do something better, or make something better. Without imagination an executive cannot foresee the good things the future may hold. Without imagination he is not able to put himself in another man’s place, which he must do.
7. MUST DELEGATE AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY if he does not do this, there is not enough time to accomplish a great deal.
8. MUST CHECK, AFTER THIS DELEGATION, TO SEE THAT RESULTS ARE OBTAINED. The leader must have progress reports not only for his own information but also to gauge personnel in preparation for his next delegation of authority.
9. MUST EVALUATE HIS TIME. A busy person does not have time to explain carefully a directive to a subordinate, and in most cases tell him the reason why he wants it done. Otherwise, it is likely to get all snarled up and have to be handled twice which a busy person does not have time to do.
10. DOES THE IMPORTANT IN MOST CASES, INSTEAD OF THE URGENT. It is so easy to decide and handle the easy ones. So often the temptation is to put aside a difficult decision until the easy ones are finished, in the hope that some additional easy ones come up to further postpone the important.
11. MUST PLAY NO FAVORITES. Anyone can do what they want with their own money. With the company’s money, there is no right to play favorites. The person who should be promoted is the person who is doing the job at the time better than others are doing theirs. If the word gets around that the executive plays no favorites, the personnel will naturally take pride in doing their jobs well, no matter how rarely they come in contact with the boss.
12. RECOGNIZES HIS/HER OWN WEAKNESSES AND SEEKS OR EMPLOYS ASSISTANCE IN THESE RESPECTS. The Great Creator has rarely produced a man without weaknesses. What often make a strong corporation is people of different but special talents accomplishing together and with the assistance of each other, more than any individual could accomplish alone.
13. TRIES TO HELP OTHERS OVERCOME THEIR WEAKNESSES AND COMPLIMENTS THEM ON THEIR GOOD TRAITS. The success of an organization is based to a large extent on loyalty and cooperation. A man might be the best coxswain in the world, but without the cooperation of the other men in his crew, the race could not be won.
14. IF SOMETHING TURNS OUT ESPECIALLY GOOD, THE LEADER FINDS SOMEONE IN THE ORGANIZATION TO SHARE THE CREDIT, IF SOMETHING GOES ESPECIALLY BAD, THE LEADER FINDS SOME WAY TO SHARE THE BLAME, You tell me who takes the responsibility for the errors and I will tell you who IS the boss,
15. MUST BE A GOOD LISTENER, I have a prayer “Oh Lord, let me know that I do not have to speak on every subject that is broached.”
16. MUST NOT TAKE HIMSELF or HERSELF TOO SERIOUSLY. I have never heard a leader criticized for taking their business too seriously. If the leader can do this, and not take himself or herself too seriously, she and her associates have a happier life.
17. MUST NOT ALLOW HERSELF TO BECOME DISCOURAGED. Even the inevitable can change from day to day, and persistence often accomplishes the seemingly impossible.
18. DOES WHAT HE SAYS HE IS GOING TO DO, EVEN IN A CASUAL STATEMENT. I know people who, if they told me casually, “I will write you a letter about that tomorrow,” and I didn’t receive the letter, I would send flowers. I would know they were dead.
19. MUST NOT MAKE AN UNQUALIFIED STATEMENT UNLESS SHE IS SUFFICIENTLY INFORMED ON FACTS. A statement may often be the basis of important action. If based on incomplete information, results may be disastrous.
20. MUST LET HIS STAFF KNOW THAT HE MEANS WHAT HE SAYS WHEN HE TELLS THEM THAT HE WANTS THEM TO DISAGREE WITH HIM WHEN THEY DO. Nearly every executive tells his staff he wants them to speak out when they disagree. He must convince them that he means what he says when he makes this statement for it is their duty to give him the benefit of their best judgment and experience. At the same time, disagreement does not absolve a man from giving his best efforts once a course of action is decided upon.
21. LIMITS HER NUMBER OF REASONS. One reason for a decision is better than several. If several reasons are given, and one of these, though not controlling, is disproved it can make awkward or tear down her whole presentation.
22. MUST NOT GET MAD UNLESS HE DECIDES TO. There are times, like a boxer working himself up to a fighting pitch, when an executive has to show a flash of fire to carry or arouse people out of their apathy. But this must be a deliberate, and not impulsive, action.
23. RECOGNIZES THE UNUSUAL FROM THE ROUTINE, AND HANDLES THE UNUSUAL IN A SPECIAL MANNER. Many leaders adequately handle the routine every day, and the business gets along all right. Sometimes even a casual request, due to its source, merits uusual handling.
24. MUST NOT BE OVERLY SUBJECT TO FLATTERY. Star dust blinds more people than sand.
25. MUST STEEP HERSELF IN THE FACTS, BUT MUST RECOGNIZE THAT A TIME COMES WHEN SHE MUST DEFER RESEARCH AND MAKE THE DECISION, So often voluminous research is acquired. For what purpose? To acquire additional voluminous research. The difficult, the decision, is postponed.
26. MUST LIKE PEOPLE. A man who does not like people multiplies his work and minimizes his effectiveness.
27. SHOULD HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR. Without this I doubt if a leader can endure, with good grace, the rugged path that accompanies accomplishment.
The Coaching Toolbox has hundreds of resources for basketball coaching including basketball practice, basketball plays, basketball drills, basketball quotes, basketball workouts, basketball poems, and more!
The “Qualities of a Leader” that you say you don’t know where you got it from is a book written by the late Cason J. Callaway, founder of Callaway Gardens near Lagrange Georgia. Just thought you should know and give him due acknowledgement.