25 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders

Everyone wants to be a great leader.  Think about it, no one wakes up in the morning and says, “I think I want to be a bad leader today.”  We all want to make a difference.  The challenge is learning how to be a leader who makes the biggest difference possible.

Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is one of the most accomplished leaders in sports.  His teams have won two college championships and participated in the last two Super Bowls, winning one.  He is a GREAT leader.

In his book Win Forever: Live, Work And Play Like A Champion, Coach Carroll describes in great detail his leadership philosophy.  I highly recommend you pick up your copy by clicking HERE or on the image above.  It will make you a better leader.

The following are 25 Practices Of Highly Successful Leaders I gleaned from the book with the accompanying Pete Carroll leadership quotes:

1. Highly Successful Leaders Are Confident Leaders – “One of the keys to success lies in knowing and believing in yourself. When you are confident and you trust in who you are, you can perform to the best of your ability.”
2. Highly Successful Leaders Have Overcome Disappointment – “What I didn’t know was that those disappointing years in high school sports would prove to be invaluable when I entered the coaching circuit later in life.”
3. Highly Successful Leaders Are Continual Learners – “Everything that got me excited in the (college) classroom was taken back to the field, meeting room, and locker room.”
4. Highly Successful Leaders Are Consistent – “In order to be successful, you must have a consistent philosophy.  If you change who you are from year to year, you’re never going to be great at anything.”
5. Highly Successful Leaders Practice Great Self-Leadership – “The only competition that matters is the one that takes place within yourself.”
6. Highly Successful Leaders Have Been In Healthy Environments Where They Have Had Opportunities For Success – “Unfortunately, after that first team meeting, (New York Jets owner Hess) Leon and I would not speak for the remainder of the season.”
7. Highly Successful Leaders Create Systems That Benefit Others – “Everything a coach does in designing his offense should be about making it easy for the quarterback, because his job is so difficult…Everything should be structured with the quarterback in mind.”
8. Highly Successful Leaders Value Production – “All I’m looking for is a guy who can throw a catchable ball.” – Bill Walsh
9. Highly Successful Leaders Identify Emerging Leaders – “I truly believe the head coach can and should nurture potential leaders as they emerge.”
10. Highly Successful Leaders Create Defining Moments – “Great leaders in sports seem to have a knack for creating defining moments.”
11. Highly Successful Leaders Fight For Unity – “Success in the NFL depends on all parts of the organization working together to field a championship team…The strongest, I firmly believe, are those that are the most unified as an organization.”
12. Highly Successful Leaders Demand Excellence – “We would never accept having a poor practice or taking a day off.”
13. Highly Successful Leaders Do Not Read Their Press Clippings – “There was no room for anybody to be thinking that last year’s success guaranteed anything for the upcoming season.”
14. Highly Successful Leaders Establish Rules And Guidelines – “A team needs rules and guidelines.”
15. Highly Successful Leaders Set The Vision – “As head coach, I set the vision and the philosophy, but it is the coordinators and other coaches who are charged with implementing it on the ground with the players every day.”
16. Highly Successful Leaders Hire A Great Staff – “Putting together a staff may be the most important part of my head coach’s job.”
17. Highly Successful Leaders Work Hard – “The first thing I look at is a person’s competitiveness and work ethic.  I also like to hire young and promote from within.”
18. Highly Successful Leaders Constantly Improve – “The most powerful weapon in the Win Forever philosophy is the drive to constantly be looking for ways to improve.”
19. Highly Successful Leaders Empower Others – “When everyone understands the vision, the goals, and the overall system, they don’t need the top boss always telling them what to do.”
20. Highly Successful Leaders Teach Others How To Lead – “Most coaches think that leadership comes from the players, but I don’t see it that way.  The leadership that I count on most comes from our coaches.”
21. Highly Successful Leaders Take On Enormous Responsibility – “Our efforts to win are based on our ability to control every aspect of our team environment, from energy to focus to camaraderie.”
22. Highly Successful Leaders Exude Passion – “Invariably, the coaches who exuded the most passion and sincerity had the best results.”
23. Highly Successful Leaders Are Loyal – “Rather than expecting loyalty from my coaches, I found that I got all the loyalty I could ask for by supporting them and advancing their careers.”
24. Highly Successful Leaders Are Great Observers – “The best teachers, coaches, and leaders are often the best observers.”
25. Highly Successful Leaders Know Everything Matters – “Everything counts.”

What is one lesson from above that you can incorporate today to make you a better leader?

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