One of the more interesting conversatations I had at our All-Staff Christmas Party was with one of the spouses of a CCC staff member who works for Michael Jordan. He is the general manager for a project that Michael is very involved in and consequently talks with MJ weekly and often takes trips with him and hangs out with him. So I asked him, "what are the some leadership lessons that you have learned from your interactions with MJ"? Here are the highlights of that conversation:
Earn Your Leadership Everyday - Just because you are the MVP or a World Champion that was yesterday. You have to re-earn your leadership everyday. There are 20,000 fans showing up that expect to see the best today; they don't want to rely on memories. MJ says: "Nothing of value comes without being earned. That is why great leaders are those who lead by example first. You can't demand respect because of a title or a position and expect people to follow. That might work for a little while, but in the long run people respond to what they see."
Push Yourself, Cause No One Else Can - MJ still gets up everday at 5am to workout and play hoops with former and current NBA players. He pushes himself in every area. In MJ's words, "Success is not about celebrating the results as much as it is about understanding the process that produced those results. You can never underestimate the results of hard work and dedication."
Expect From Others What You Expect From Yourself - And MJ expects others to live up to his standard of "earning your leadership everday" and to "push yourself to be your best." My friend said Michael will not hesitate to let someone go if they do not perform
Be Loyal To Those On Your Team - He told me that the first person that MJ met when he arrived in Chicago was a guy who gave him a ride from the airport. That guy is still his body guard til this day.
Thank you for sharing these priceless nuggets. What an opportunity to glean from someone like MJ!
Posted by: Ted | December 19, 2005 at 12:45 PM
Not everyone is as big a fan of MJ as me - http://dumbjock.blogspot.com/ I think MJ's lessons are still good...but maybe he should of applied them when he was the General Manager of the Washington Wizards.
Posted by: Dave Ferguson | December 19, 2005 at 02:58 PM
Yeah, I wonder what the deal was with the Wizards. I must say that even his possible quagmire with the Wizards; hopefully he gleaned leadership lessons from his management wins and woe's.
I wonder if his decision to come back and play basketball again for the Wizard's was his way of modeling what he was looking for in the team. Maybe that was a lesson for the team? Then again, maybe not…
Posted by: Ted | December 19, 2005 at 05:14 PM
Thanks for sharing--very cool stuff. I had a conversation with the same "CCC staff spouse" that same night, and left it feeling like I wanted to read through this book with my entire team in early 2006. Now I'm even more convinced!
I wonder how many Christian leaders today are open to learning from people who are "not officially Christians" like this? Probably not enough.
BTW, here's my favorite quote from our friend who works with MJ. One day I asked: "Isn't it amazing that that you have MJ's cell phone # stored in your phone?" And he smiled and answered: "What's more amazing is, he has mine # stored in his."
Posted by: Carter M. | December 19, 2005 at 10:22 PM
That is pretty impressive. He also told me has been with MJ when Tiger Woods and Lance Armstrong were there. I wish I wasn't so impressed.
Posted by: Dave Ferguson | December 19, 2005 at 10:35 PM
I am a huge Michael fan as well and these "nuggets" on leadership are great. However, I would just remind folks that a "leader" works to apply these nuggets to all aspects of their life... I think Michael sometimes left his leadership skills on the court or in the locker room... unfortunately I don't feel they always traveled with him where ever he was. The Wizard's experience...was that a true picture of Michael's leadership skills without the influence of Phil...Phil being the leader getting the most out of his star???
Anyway point was to be that Michael is argueably the greatest basketball player of all time and one of the great leaders on the court...I'd just like to see my leaders be more consistent in their leadership...that brings credibility in their words and actions.
Posted by: Paul Warner | December 20, 2005 at 06:04 AM
Great post! Linking it up!
Posted by: Josh Sargent | December 21, 2005 at 10:17 AM
well well well.pretty interesting points. i've been a michael jordan fan from the time i left my mother's womb i love m.j. read alot of books about him and wish he'd never stop play basketball. i'm from dominca 6 foot 6 inches at 17 yrs and i've been playing basketball from age 7 jordan inspired me alot and now he still is thanks to you i really would like it if i could talk to him one day to tell him how much i miss seeing him fly and that maybe someday i could fly too
Posted by: Travis Lawrence | May 18, 2007 at 01:32 AM