Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 618 - "A Leader Doesn’t Have To Be Loud" (Liz Wiseman and John Wooden)


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 12	Issue 618
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"A LEADER DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LOUD" (LIZ WISEMAN AND JOHN WOODEN) John Wooden Video Clip (1 min. 45 sec.): Coach Wooden discusses learning from others. Liz Wiseman is a bestselling author, researcher, and elite leadership coach. In her New York Times bestseller, Multipliers: she researched over 150 leaders worldwide. Liz Wiseman and Coach Wooden both agree that Self-Control and Poise are essential character traits for good leadership. In her book, Wiseman describes how a leader who feels their personality must dominate the environment can inadvertently hurt the team’s performance. She refers to this person as the "Always On" leader: "The "Always On" leader is a dynamic, charismatic leader who exudes energy; he or she is always engaged, always present, and always has something to say. These are the leaders with a big personality that can fill a room. They assume that their energy is contagious, like a virus to be caught by anyone in their presence. But, like the common cold, this leader can be draining. As he expands, like a gas consuming all the available oxygen, others suffocate; most find him just plain exhausting. Soon people avoid making eye contact or having encounters with him, thinking, I just don’t have the energy right now. He becomes white noise. His endless spray of speech becomes muffled and sometimes completely unheard by the people he leads. When the leader is always on, others maybe become always off." The "Always On" leader can become more effective if he or she stops repeating themselves for emphasis and instead "says things once". This creates a reason for others to chime in and build on the idea. The leader should then set expectations for others to speak up. John Wooden never sought to be the center of attention. He was always clear, concise, and compelling. He would never tell you what to think. He would always cause you to think. What effect do you have on others? Click here for personal development exercise: Issue 618. Click here for Printable Poetry: Issue 618. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Follow @woodenswisdom	COACH'S FAVORITE POETRY AND PROSE The Family’s Homely Man There never was a family without its homely man, With legs a little longer than the ordinary plan, An' a shock of hair that brush an' comb can't ever straighten out, An' hands that somehow never seem to know what they're about; The one with freckled features and a nose that looks as though It was fashioned by the youngsters from a chunk of mother's dough. You know the man I'm thinking of, the homely one an' plain, That fairly oozes kindness like a rosebush dripping rain. His face is never much to see, but back of it there lies A heap of love and tenderness and judgment, sound and wise. And so I sing the homely man that's sittin' in his chair, And pray that every family will always have him there. For looks don't count for much on earth; it's hearts that wear the gold; An' only that is ugly which is selfish, cruel, cold. The family needs him, Oh, so much; more, maybe, than they know; Folks seldom guess a man's real worth until he has to go, But they will miss a heap of love an' tenderness the day God beckons to their homely man, an' he must go away. He's found in every family, it doesn't matter where They live or be they rich or poor, the homely man is there. You'll find him sitting quiet-like and sort of drawn apart, As though he felt he shouldn't be where folks are fine an' smart. He likes to hide himself away, a watcher of the fun, An' seldom takes a leading part when any game's begun. But when there's any task to do, like need for extra chairs, I've noticed it's the homely man that always climbs the stairs. And always it's the homely man that happens in to mend The little toys the youngsters break, for he's the children's friend. And he's the one that sits all night to watch beside the dead, And sends the worn-out sorrowers and broken hearts to bed. The family wouldn't be complete without him night or day, To smooth the little troubles out and drive the cares away. Edgar Albert Guest (1881-1959)
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