Tony La Russa

"You have to fight (the players) from feeling like, 'Hey, whatever happens, happens,' ... Somehow, some way, you have to find a way to make them understand that you have to take care of both the personal and the professional. There's nothing disrespectful about paying respect to the player but also paying respect to your profession."

~Tony La Russa 

Today Tony La Russa retired after 33 years of managing Major League Baseball. Some consider him one of the best managers of all time, being the only manager to ever win 3 World Series Championships in only three decades. He managed the Oakland A's, the Chicago White Sox and most recently the St. Louis Cardinals. What truly makes him an excellent leader is not just his leadership on the field during the games, but his loyalty to the clubhouse and the players throughout the season.

La Russa understands that for an organization to be successful it must work to protect and encourage those involved within it. A clear example of this would be after Game 2 of the 2011 World Series. In the ninth inning Albert Pujols called off other players in a catch which he was unable to make, sending the winning run into scoring position. After the game reporters hounded La Russa asking why Pujols was allowed to do what he did and what punishment would come of it. Instead of throwing him to the wolves, an option the reporters were clearly looking for, La Russa talked about how Pujols had "excellent judgement on the field" and how he had always been allowed to have a say on what went on during the game. Clearly not the answer the reporters were looking for, they probed harder to no avail.

La Russa's actions cleary demonstrate the idea that leadership revolves around trust and loyalty. Without it organizations would fall apart and nothing would change for the better. One thing I've learned from this is no matter how bad things are looking, throwing others under the bus is never the answer and you never know, they might just come back to save you another time. Like when Pujols hit 3 Home Runs in the following game.

 

Jackie Geyer

"I think leadership comes from integrity – that you do whatever you ask others to do. I think there are non-obvious ways to lead. Just by providing a good example as a parent, a friend, a neighbor makes it possible for other people to see better ways to do things. Leadership does not need to be a dramatic, fist in the air and trumpets blaring, activity."

~Scott Berkun 

After writing about Hillary Clinton yesterday and not my mother, Jackie Geyer, I felt a little guilty. So here goes. As it is with most families, my mother is the glue that holds our family together. And, as I'm sure is also the case with most families, she is very under appreciated. Despite all of this she is an excellent example of how some of the greatest leaders are great not because of their major accomplishments in the public view but rather the little things they do right every day when no one is looking. 

Raising 3 children full time is no easy chore. Doing it while your husband is overseas or out of the state for days and weeks at a time is even more difficult. Yet somehow my mother managed to do it all without resorting to cussing or unjust punishment. No matter how we felt at the time, I don't think there was ever a time where my brothers or I were ever treated badly because she was stressed or overwhelmed by all of the things that needed to be done. And trust me there was a lot that needed to be done. Driving carpool, packing lunches, coordinating schedules, doing laundry, helping with homework, making dinner, breaking up fights, cleaning up toys...the list goes on and on. Yet she never once broke down or lost her temper. 

In a world where cussing is everywhere, violence is considered humorous on television and dysfunctional families rule reality TV my mother stuck to her morals and never faltered. If there's anything I learned from her it's that no matter how tough you think you have it or how stressful life seems to be, there is never an excuse to take it out on someone else or forget your morals. Great leaders do the little things right, all the time, no exceptions. That's what makes my mom a great leader.

Hillary Clinton

"Probably my worst quality is that I get very passionate about what I think is right."

~Hillary Clinton 

Today was my mom's birthday, as well as Seth  MacFarlane's (creater of Family Guy) and Hillary Clinton's (Secretary of State). While my mom is most certainly a leader in my mind, this post is about Hillary Clinton. While she is definitely not perfect, she's a great example of going for what you believe in and making good things come out of a bad situation.

A clear example of this was after the 2008 election when President Obama nominated her to be his Secretary of State. Almost 6 months after losing the Democratic Presidential bid to him she agreed to work under him. While it certainly put her in a great position of power, it takes a big person to agree to serve under someone who just beat you in anything, especially in something on that grand of a scale. She took the position and did it with the mindset of changing the world. 

Hillary Clinton travels the world meeting with Diplomats and other World Leaders in an effort to promote values like world peace, woman suffrage, and much more. If there's anything I learned from Clinton's countless visits around the world it's that even though you may not succeed in what you planned on, you can make a huge difference and lead through what opportunities come out of the bad situation.  

Aaron Rodgers

"Tonight is not a setback. It's just a learning experience."

~Aaron Rodgers

The Green Bay Packers staying undefeated while the Detroit Lions crumble to the 49ers seems to be the biggest topic in football. While I'll admit it's quite a feat to stay undefeated especially after winning the Super Bowl (which means everyone is putting on their A game to play you), I think the fact that Aaron Rodgers is playing there as Quarterback is an even greater feat in itself. 

Aaron Rodgers has constantly lived in a shadow of doubt concerning his playing abilities. He wasn't recruited after High School except as a walk-on from Illinois. He declined that offer to go to a community college where he led his team to 2nd in the country in their division. From there he transferred to The University of California to become a "Golden Bear" and coincidentally was called in to play in the game against his original offer, Illinois. Even after finishing his Junior season ranked in the top 5 in the nation, Rodgers faced disappointment again during the NFL draft. Predicted to go early, Rodgers slipped down to the 24th pick in the draft where he was picked up by the Green Bay Packers.

Once picked up by the Packers, Rodgers had to earn the trust of the current QB Brett Favre. Favre eventually warmed up to Rodgers and when he "retired" in 2008, Rodgers was put in as his replacement. Even though this was his time to shine, he could not escape the shadow of his predecessor. Fans lined up during the preseason practices with signs and protesting to bring Favre back as well as insulting and cat calling Rodgers. Despite all of the adversity and negativity though, Rodgers went on to win the Super Bowl in 2010 and start the 2011 season off undefeated. 

I don't know if there's a better example to show how much perseverance and a never give up attitude can influence your future. There were countless times where a lesser man would have given up his football career and succumb to the pressure of "you're not good enough". However Rodgers stayed strong and refused to let others get in the way of his dreams showing that anything is possible.

Melinda Gates

"If you can empower them with the right things, the right tools, they can lift up their family. And that ultimately lifts up their community, lifts up their society."

~Melinda Gates 

Melinda Gates is part of the organization Women in the World, and as such she travels all over to developing countries conversing and building relationships with underprivileged women. In an interview with Yahoo! she talks about how giving women even the smallest tool such as access to a vaccine for her children or a contraceptive and it could cause huge change with the other people in her community.

In class we learned that empowerment is a crucial part of leadership and that is exactly what Gates is doing for these women. By providing access to the materials I mentioned above, it gives the women more of a choice in what goes on in their lives which empowers them to take a bigger part in their community. Gates mentions that the women are the biggest influence on their families lives and if they feel more empowered they might use that influence to have a bigger part in what happens in their society. So in a way, it's building leaders. 

Melinda Gates is an excellent example of leadership in the way she works so hard to empower women all over the world and works so hard in the US to make it simple and worthwhile for women to donate to her cause. In the future I want to make a difference and learning from her example it seems like the right way to go would be to focus mostly on empowering the people around me to see what they have to share and then combining our talents to make a difference in the world around us.

Photo by Suzanne Lee

David Philipps

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

~John Quincy Adams

Last night I attended an event where the author of Lethal Warriors, David Phillips talked about his book, his process, and PTSD. PTSD stands for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder which in his book, affected a majority of the soldiers in Fort Carson who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book explores the backgrounds of various soldiers, their experiences in the war zone and their actions back in the US. Since it is dealing with psychological problems affecting soldiers the book is widely controversial. 

What stood out to me was not the subject of the book but rather the actions the author took to write the book. Philipps was a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette but he did not report on Fort Carson, or the crime in the city. Instead he was  a feature writer, writing things about skiing and the occasional restaurant review. When crimes started dramatically increasing, especially those committed by returned veterans from a certain platoon, Philipps noticed the trend. Even after the editor denied his request to be put on the assignment, he took his own time and energy and pursued the story. Eventually he turned in a 1500 story that was published, later he added more and turned it into the book Lethal Warriors.

In class we learned that leadership involves positive change. This occurs when something causes the situation to unfreeze and an issue is addressed. By writing Lethal Warriors Phillips was causing positive change by bringing to light the issue that PTSD was being ignored or when diagnosed, ineffectively treated. His book sparked many conversations with those throughout the military community, the medical community and in the government. Learning from his example I've noticed that sometimes it is necessary to tell a difficult truth in order to cause positive change. 

Former President George W. Bush

" Leadership to me means duty, honor, country. It means character, and it means listening from time to time."

~George W. Bush

 

 On Saturday the former President George W. Bush held a press conference in which he talked mainly about the troops saying he misses being able to visit with the troops in Iraq. It goes on to quote him saying "I was a little concerned that our veterans don't think that I still respect them and care for them a lot...There's nothing as courageous in my judgment as someone who had a leg blown off in combat overcoming the difficulties." (Jamie Stengle AP)

I have a cousin in the military who has served in several tours, which is why this article stood out to me in the news. Regardless if the war in Iraq/Afghanistan was the correct action to take or if we should be pulling out now, it's clear to me that Bush is and was an excellent example of leadership.

Leadership, as we touched on in class, involves interpersonal relationships. Those relationships build trust which gives people more incentive and will to do what is being asked of them by the leader. Bush was very good at being respectful and building relationships with those he was working with. For example, when visiting with the Prince of Saudi Arabia he frequently walked around holding hands with him and talking. While in America seeing two grown men holding hands and talking would seem out of the ordinary, in Saudi Arabia it is a sign of trust and a good relationship between two men. If Bush was too self-conscious about the appearance of holding hands then he could have offended the Prince and inadvertently caused conflict between our countries. Bush was also more concerned about meeting with the soldiers fighting and building personal relationships with them than his own safety, as he took numerous troops into the battle zones to visit with the troops. This kind of selflessness to maintain relationships so as to get things accomplished is an excellent example of leadership. 

Learning from his example, I will try to focus on building and maintaining relationships with those who I have to work with to get something done. Even if it means I have to do something that is out of my comfort zone, Bush has taught me that to be a great leader you need to respect others beliefs/practices and go a step further by taking part in some of them.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Clinton J. Evans, U.S. Army

Steve Jobs

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma —which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

~Steve Jobs (2005) 

On  Wednesday, news of Steve Jobs' death was all over facebook. Looking to Google the top stories were his new autobiography and his Stanford commencement address from 6 years ago. While I'm not one of those people who owns everything by apple and swears by it, I do enjoy Pixar quite a bit and so my respect for Steve Jobs is very high. Because of this, I chose to read through his commencement address. 

Throughout the address he references 3 stories. Struggling with the lack of money to afford college and eventually dropping out, starting up Apple but getting fired and then starting NEXT and Pixar, and triumphing over Pancreatic Cancer. Throughout all of this he emphasizes staying focused through adversity. When he got fired from his own company, Apple, he didn't give up and hold a grudge to the point of blaspheming it to the press. Instead he started two newer, better companies in Pixar and NEXT which eventually got bought by Apple and thus reinstating him as a leader in the company. 

The situation made me think of the difference of being a manager and a leader. If Steve Jobs had simply been a manager of the Apple company, even though he was smart enough to design the technology to create the Apple company, his career would have ended when the Apple company fired him. As simply a manager he would have accepted the reality of the situation (that he was fired) and accepted the status quo (which would have been that he was unfit to perform the job). However Steve Jobs was not just a manager, he was a leader. When he was fired from Apple he challenged it. He didn't challenge it in the way of causing countless scenes in which he ultimately would have been categorized as unstable and deranged. Instead he challenged himself to rise above the situation and prove to himself/others that he was smart enough to start his own companies and succeed. He became his own person and as the success of Pixar can speak for itself, he rose above. 

As cliche as it sounds, this situation taught me if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Even if it seems like no one believes in you and no one values your opinions, don't give up. A true leader finds a way to rise above the adversity and forge their own path. In the future I won't be as worried about success in the little things I do and instead work my hardest to maintain a leader's viewpoint instead of a manager's.

Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

Assault vs. Leadership

"You do not lead by hitting people over the head.  That's assault, not leadership." 

~Dwight D. Eisenhower

I came across this cartoon earlier today when I was researching networking on facebook for my Communication class. It reminded me of a quote from Eisenhower I remembered hearing and got me to thinking about how a leader motivates others effectively. 

In class we learned that empowerment is achieved by conveying faith in group members and in doing so enabling the involvement of group members. Threatening someone or "hitting them over the head" doesn't sound to me like you're conveying faith in them. I feel like its all too often conveyed in movies that the only way to get something done is to threaten another person. A real leader, in my opinion, can get others to get stuff done without threatening them. I don't think I have ever resorted to threats to encourage people when I've been in a leadership position in the past. However I don't think I've made a big enough deal of empowering others in those situations. From now on I'm going to focus on making it a priority to empower others to encourage them.

Moneyball

Leadership is "a process of giving purpose (meaningful direction) to collective effort, and causing willing effort to be expended to achieve purpose." Jacobs & Jacques, 1990

Last Sunday I saw Moneyball in theaters for the second time. Throughout the movie Brad Pitt's character, Billy Beane, attempts to overcome the Oakland A's problem of lacking funds to buy good players by bringing in Jonah Hill's character, Peter Brand. Together they attempt to use math algorithms to draft players based on their on base percentage, not their number of homers, or their ability on the field. When Beane and Brand first begin to bring in new, under-appreciated players to the team they are met by opposition and resistance at every level, from the drafting agents to the head coach.

To me this is an excellent example of what Jacobs and Jacques defined as leadership. When the head coach refuses to put the team on the field that Beane and Brand drafted, they don't give up. Eventually they trade the players the head coach consistently put on the field before the players Beane wanted. Through his persistence and constant conveyance of what he wanted and what vision he has for the A's, the team eventually begins to come together. This leads to the players and the head coach coming on board with the plan and together they beat countless records and win 20 straight games. They also turn the season from a losing one, to a winning one. All of those accomplishments would not have been possible, especially on the budget they had, if it had not been for Beane giving them purpose and direction and causing them to willingly achieve purpose through combined effort.

Not only has this shown me the importance of perseverance, but it also made me realize how with enough commitment, the seemingly impossible can be achieved. Even if it seems like no one wants you to succeed or no one is listening to you, if you show enough leadership, anything can be accomplished.

Moneyball. Dir. Bennett Miller. Perf. Pitt, Brad. Columbia Pictures, 2011. Film.