Respect will be given to those who occupy position or status; who have demonstrated the capacity to perform at an elite level, particularly within the same environment; who is new to a role but has come with approved credentials; and sometimes through age.
Within a high performance team environment though, such respect will be short lived unless the leader can walk the walk, talk the talk, and live the environment with integrity.
The leader needs to show that he or she has –
- A clear and consistent philosophy about who they are, and the expectations of themselves and those around them
- A clear vision for the group and how they are going to strive to achieve that vision
- A lead by example approach through actions and behaviours
- A total commitment to serve the team and all its members
In my case, I did not have the Test playing record or even the cricket playing record of those whom I coached.
My experiences had taken me beyond the cricket field, and it was from this vantage point that I coached.
I recognised the vast array of talent, game changers and experience that was in the dressing room. My task was to mould that into something far more formidable than had gone before.
I set about constantly challenging everything we did as a team, every result we achieved, every individual that was part of the group, and every ‘norm’ that was taken for granted around and inside the group.
I understood that we needed to achieve results, but possibly more importantly, I recognised we needed to better understand how collectively and individually we went about getting those result – the PROCESS of gaining results.
So gaining and maintaining the respect of the team comes down to –
- Knowing yourself inside out, and sticking, without compromise to your principles, values and cornerstones
- Lead by example by delivering these consistently – living and breathing them
- Showing the group a vision for the future and totally committing to serving the team in its mission to achieve that vision
- Know the process of gaining results which means ‘living in the present’ to get results today, but also have a ‘foot in the future’ so that every step taken is in the direction of achieving the vision.
