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Issue 512 - "Empowerment (the right way)" (Tony Dungy Part Eleven)


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 10	Issue 512
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"EMPOWERMENT (THE RIGHT WAY)" (TONY DUNGY PART ELEVEN) John Wooden Video Clip (26 sec.): Coach Wooden is asked: "When people reflect on your life how would you like to be remembered?" Tony Dungy was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001, and head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2002 to 2008. Coach Dungy became the first African American head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Colts defeated the Chicago Bears in 2007. In his book, The Leader Mentor, Coach Dungy explained: "Empowerment (the right way)": "Once the people you lead are ready, it's time to turn them loose. But not before they're ready. As a mentor leader, you have a responsibility to engage, educate, equip, and encourage them first—and at every appropriate point thereafter, as well. You can't just walk in and empower them. If they're not ready, you're only setting them up to fail." Successful empowerment requires developing and coaching a "Growth Mindset" not a "Fixed Mindset" for your team members and yourself. In their article for Havannah's Helpers, Dr Frances Warren and Dr Sherria Hoskins, describe the difference: "According to someone with a fixed mindset, if you fail at something, make a mistake, or even have to put effort in, it must be because ‘you're just not good enough'. Because of that belief, children (and adults) begin to avoid challenges and choose activities that they find easy. People with a fixed mindset feel as if they have no control over their abilities and are helpless in the face of difficulties and setbacks. They begin to feel disheartened if they find something difficult, which can lead to low self-esteem and a developing sense that there is ‘no point' in trying. People with a growth mindset think very differently. They believe that they can get better at something by practicing, so when they're faced with a challenge, they become more and more determined to succeed, wanting to persevere and overcome knockbacks. They tend to feel as if they're in control and are not threatened by hard work or failure. People with a growth mindset do not let failure define them; instead, they use setbacks to motivate them." If your approval is based on effort, proper execution and never giving up, not on results, those you empower (Children and Adults) will develop a "Growth Mindset". Their fear of failure will transform to fearless effort. What's your mindset? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 512. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 512. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE The Happy Man If you would know a happy man, Go find the fellow who Has had a bout with trouble grim And just come smiling through. The load is off his shoulders now, Where yesterday he frowned And saw no joy in life, to-day He laughs his way around. He's done the very thing he thought That he could never do; His sun is shining high to-day And all his skies are blue. He's stronger than he was before; Should trouble come anew He'll know how much his strength can bear And how much he can do. To-day he has the right to smile, And he may gaily sing, For he has conquered where he feared The pain of failure's sting. Comparison has taught him, too, The sweetest hours are those Which follow on the heels of care, With laughter and repose. If you would meet a happy man, Go find the fellow who Has had a bout with trouble grim And just come smiling through. Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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