13 Leadership Goals for All Team Members

This is one of my favorite pieces that I think concisely captures what it means to be a good teammate.  It comes from Keith Kenyon of the American Athletic Institute.  We put it in our team notebooks each season and talk about many of the points throughout the year.

1.     Always follow team rules. 

(We call them our team standards, but same idea.)

2.    Try to be the hardest worker on the team.

3.    Try to be the most enthusiastic player on the team.

4.    Try to be the best conditioned player on the team.

5.    Observe and reflect on the leadership traits of the team captain(s) and  coaches.

6.   Master the plays and team strategy.

7.    Care about your teammates; this includes being supportive and never backstabbing.

8.   Maintain your sense of composure and balance when adversity strikes.

9.   Always put team goals ahead of personal goals.

10. Inspire confidence by demonstrating self-control.

11.  Try to be the most coachable player on the team.

12.  Reach out to those team members with whom you have little  in common.

13. Try to energize your teammates by your positive attitude.

Check out President Porterfield's Blog Post: This is Not

Click the link to check out President Porterfield's blog post:  This Is Not

Developing Leaders

Now that the school year is in full swing, some of the leadership development programming is starting up again for our students.  This week, Kevin Touhey, a leadership development expert, will be back on campus working with our student-athletes.  All of our new players will meet with Coach Touhey for an introduction to the philosophy of lateral leadership.  On our team, we believe that everyone contributes to our team leadership, in different, but all meaningful ways.  Coach Touhey will be back throughout the year to meet with each team individually as well.

I also have the honor to participate in the Harwood Leadership Program.  The nominated students gathered yesterday for a round of interviews and activities.  It was a great afternoon, and I had a lot of fun participating in the interviews.  The launch of this program will be an innovative way to foster peer learning and provide the framework for students to learn from each others leadership experiences.  I'm really looking forward to the first session.

As we get closer to the start of our season, we are preparing a number of team building and leadership development activities for our team.  It's so important to prepare and develop the mental side of the game as well!  I'll be sure to keep you posted as to what we are up to!