Humility, Clarity, Courage

There are three essentials to leadership: humility, clarity and courage. ~ Fuchan Yuan

There are hundreds of different definitions of leadership, and to me leadership is very personal. Your approach has to fit who you are, the behavior you model and the core values you believe in. I’ve always loved this quote. Leadership is a lot of different things to different people, but leaders have certain characteristics.

The best leaders are clear, courageous and humble. And great leadership isn’t easy, which means always being clear, courageous and humbles isn’t that simple. Think about how you coach your team. i think most of us think it’s important to be clear. That’s pretty basic. But how do we go about it? A lot of coaches think being clear is yelling the same thing louder, rather than slowing it down and explaining it.

I’m not sure how much coaches think about being courageous or being humble. A lot of us are driven by the power that comes with being in charge, and our egos grow. I think most people respond better to a humble leader, rather than to arrogance, but again it isn’t easy. We want to be in command and control and with that I think humility often goes out the window.

Courage is another element that probably doesn’t cross our mind enough as head coaches. I used the word courage with my players a lot, and to be effective they had to see a courageous coach. Am I willing to take the necessary risks for us to be great? Will I start the walk-on who brings it every day and is tough as nails when the starter isn’t locked in? Will I leave the freshmen on the floor late in the second half to close out a game when he is outplaying the starter? It’s so easy to stay with the decisions that are comfortable, that won’t get criticized, but it takes courage to be great. I’m not sure we think about the courage we need to display as the head coach to get our team playing without fear.

Great leaders have a lot of different characteristics and there is no one set formula that fits everyone. But if you are humble, clear and courageous your approach will resonate with your players and enhance their belief in your approach.