One degree of separation: A leadership lesson from the Master Coach
When Lou Holtz became the head football coach at Notre Dame, he empathized with players that they had no say in the process of hiring him. He shared the following message with his players “I know you did not select me to be your football coach. In fact, if you had any say in the matter I would be the last person you would select as your coach. That’s not important. What is important is that I selected you. I came here because of you.”
Holtz has been an ideal to me in the coaching profession and someone I strive to emulate. One of the reasons I believe I am drawn to him is because Holtz’s style of leadership can be found in the teachings of Jesus Christ. In the fiftieth book of John (verse:16) Jesus states, “you didn’t choose me but I choose you.”
Most people prefer to be in control of their lives; however taking into account how one sees the world, and treating individuals with empathy (i.e., putting yourself in someone else’s shoes) is linked to successful leadership and is appealing to most people in most settings. To effectively LEAD, one must show those under his/her supervision that you care for them as individuals and that they are not simply cogs in the machine. As the old saying goes, “they don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.“
Coach Nelson serves as a high school football coach who is pursuing his doctorate in Sport and Performance Psychology. He has worked for division 1 athletic departments, professional sport franchises, a Fortune 100 Company and has won numerous awards for his LEADership abilities. Most recently coach Nelson was hired as a trainer for the Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) and as a mental performance coach for Mindurance.
His mission is to positively influence the world through Love, Effort, Attitude and Discipline (#LEAD). To learn more about the LEAD philosophy follow him on Twitter Levi Nelson or reach out via email at rln10@zips.uakron.edu He’d love to learn about or help you in your journey!
PCA: https://www.positivecoach.org/team/nelson-levi/
Mindurance: https://mindurance.com/viewAdvisor.asp?ic=51819&catID=
