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By: Jamy Bechler

Originally Published in: THE LEADERSHIP PLAYBOOK

It is not just enough to lead yourself effectively, you must also have a positive influence on others, John C. Maxwell says, "A leader without a follower is just someone taking a nice walk." If you are a captain or an upperclassman, this will be obvious. However, if you are a player that doesn't have any kind of positional leadership, then this might seem difficult to do. You understand that you have to lead yourself and you are committed to doing what is right. But, lead others? How are you supposed to do that?

Every player has close friends on their team. You might not be good friends with every one of your teammates, but you do have some close friendships. Those are going to be the people that you lead most effectively. We are influenced by people that we like and trust. You might not be able to influence every member of your team but you will be able to lead some of them. Those of the ones that you need to focus the majority of your attention on. Your positive (or negative) influence will be most evident among your circle of friends.

The first step to being a leader is to lead yourself. The next step is to lead others. In particular, those that you are closest to. If you are leading yourself the wrong way, then you will lead your friends the wrong way. You will either be the ringleader of bad choices or you will allow poor choices to be made while you remain quiet and approving of the actions.

Ultimately, you will become like the people that you hang out with the most and they will become like you. The ideal situation is that you and your friends are influencing each other in a positive way. If this is not the case, then the question becomes, who will have the most influence? Even in situations where a group of friends is not all positive influences, there is still some type of influence going on. Either you are influencing your friends positively or they are influencing you in a less than positive manner. You must lead others positively in order to have a chance to create their championship culture on your team that you desire. Granted, you can't do it by yourself.

You also can't lead everyone because you won't have a friendship or a strong connection with everyone on the team. Those you have the strongest connection with are the ones that you will be able to lead most effectively. You might say, "The team won't listen to me" and you might be right. However, your friends will listen to you. The wonderful thing about that is you just might be starting a chain reaction that ends up with the whole team.

Listening to you without them even knowing that. It is rare that a group of friends is completely self-contained and doesn't have strong relationships with others. For example, your three closest friends all probably have at least one other person that they are close to that you aren't as close with. This ripple effect is how your influence can eventually influence an entire team.

Dr. Colleen Hacker is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Sport, and Performance Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University and has served as a member of the Team USA coaching staff for six Olympic Games as a Mental Skills Coach and Performance Psychology Specialist.

This clip comes from our AD Insider | Thursday 30 episode #112. Click here to view full episode.

By: Jamy Bechler

Originally Published in The Leadership Playbook

The old acronym of T.E.A.M. in which together everyone achieves more is true more often than not. Players need teammates that are willing and able to do the things that they can't or don't want to do.
We all have strengths and weaknesses. Just like the strength of each wolf is the wolfpack and the strength of the wolfpack is each individual wolf, so it is on teams. Each team has players with different strengths and weaknesses.

The best teams have players that understand that they all fit together like a puzzle. Even the most talented softball pitcher can't strike out every batter. They need competent fielders to make plays in the field when the batter hits the ball. A talented outside hitter in volleyball knows that their skills are not maximized if they don't have a good setter.

A team-first mentality and understanding of how crucial every member of a team can be to achieving a common goal is a must in utilizing your leadership potential. The more you respect and praise the various roles on a team, the greater your opportunity for influence will be.

THE TEAM! THE TEAM! THE TEAM!

Regardless of whether you are a fan of the Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes or the Alabama Crimson Tide, you can appreciate the importance of teamwork and how it is crucial for your favorite team to play in an important bowl game or contend for a championship. Bo Schembechler played football at Miami of Ohio for the legendary Woody Hayes. He would also be an assistant coach for Hayes at Ohio State.

When Schembechler took over as head coach at the University of Michigan, he and Hayes embarked on a fierce rivalry that came to be known as the "Ten-Year War." Overall, Schembechler ended his college career with a 234-65-8 record. He ended his career as an athletic director at Michigan and then president of the Detroit Tigers. Schembechler was a fiery coach known for his motivational speeches. One of his most popular has come to be known as "The Team The Team The Team" and it is a good reminder of how special it is to be a part of a team,

"We want the Big Ten championship and we're gonna win it as a Team. They can throw out all those great backs, and
great quarterbacks, and great defensive players, throughout the country and in this conference, but there's
gonna be one Team that's gonna play solely as a Team.

No man is more important than The Team. No coach is more important than The Team. The Team, The Team, The Team, and if we think that way, all of us, everything that you do, you take into consideration what effect does it have on my Team? Because you can go into professional football, you can go anywhere you want to play after you leave here. You will never play for a Team again. You'll play for a contract. You'll play for this. You'll play for that. You'll play for everything except the team, and think what a great thing it is to be a part of something that is The Team.

We're gonna win it. We're gonna win the championship again because we're gonna play as a team, better than anybody else in this conference, we're gonna play together as a team. We're gonna believe in each other, we're not gonna criticize each other, we're not gonna talk about each other, we're gonna encourage each other. And when we play as a team, when the old season is over, you and I know, it's gonna be Michigan again, Michigan."