Posted by Brandon Kinsey on February 9, 2017 | Kinsey Management, LLC (Houston, TX) – A Predictive Index Certified Partner

One of the things I’m most passionate about is leadership. To me, it’s more important than any other component to an organization. Successful organizations across all industries (e.g. media, business, government or sports), all share a common trait – great leadership.  This leadership, regardless of its style, permeates into the cultural fiber of the organization. It’s what the organization will fall back on in times of adversity and it will be the prevailing wind when times are of plenty. Organizations who have staying power and experience also understand that leadership is unequivocally taught.

Some of my most memorable leadership lessons and experiences came early in my career when I was a high school football coach in Houston, Texas.  While I could take you into the inner workings of X’s and O’s and Jimmy’s and Joe’s, I can essentially summarize that being a successful coach had more to do with how effective you were at motivating, inspiring, and identifying leaders. I was extremely lucky to coach with some of the finest coaches and men in the business. The program that I experienced was implemented at many schools. Coaches would branch upward from assistants to head coaches but every time the program was repeated it proved successful. What was the common dominator? Great leadership, of course. And not just leadership of the man with the big whistle, it was the program itself for building leaders.

I would like to share with you not only how this was accomplished on the football field, but how this can be applied within your professional organization of adult men and women…

These winning programs began every off-season with a “boot camp”. It involved a 3-day classroom setting to teach players the character values they could expect from their coaches and the character values we expected from them as players. It then proceeded into a series of rigorous physical activity, painstaking details, overwhelming verbal and non-verbal commands, and lots of push-ups! But the endgame was simple, to help them become SELF-AWARE, especially understanding how your strengths, weaknesses, beliefs and goals work together to create the reality that YOU want! Yes, even adolescents can become self-aware. We achieved self-awareness by challenging them to the brink, both mentally and physically, and continually reminding them, “Use your strengths, understand your weaknesses, and care more about our goals and the guy next to you, than yourself”. Once we achieved what we called our “perfect day” (perfect leadership), it became what I like to recall reflectively as I.N.F.L.U.E.N.C.E.

Integrity – relationship all built on mutual trust

Nurturing – care about the individuals

Faith – believes in our goal and our people

Listening – values what others say

Understanding – attempt to look through others lenses

Enlarging – makes others better

Navigating – assist others in their difficulty

Connecting – initiates positive relationships

Empowering – give them the power to lead

So, how can organizations replicate this methodology more simply and efficiently (with less push-ups!)? First, use a scientifically proven assessment tool that is efficient, accurate, and reliable, The Predictive Index®, to help your employees and managers to become self-aware, understanding the core traits that drive their behaviors, decisions, actions and attitude. Next, use this data to align your teams, build consensus and elevate performance and morale. This engagement will lead your organization to better People, Performance, and Results!