Blog Post
THE ONE QUALITY THAT ALL GREAT LEADERS OWN
- By Jonathan Cawte
- •
- 06 Jun, 2017
Unwavering commitment. This is the quality that defines a team that is lead by a great leader or coach. The basis of this unity between leader and team member is trust. A quality that is often assumed but is best developed when a leader is willing to earn it.
The quality so vital in leadership is equally as important when coaching executives to transform their health. Yet, not one doctor, dietician or trainer is talking about it.
You can’t command people to trust you. Trust is not an order. Trust is a feeling created by how willing a leader is to devote their time and energy to those they lead.
It’s easy for a trainer, an executive or the athlete with the ‘c’ next to their name to overlook that we are suspicious by nature. Generations before us may have willingly fallen into line.
Not this generation. We are too self-interested. We want to know what a leader can do for us before we give them our attention and then…maybe our trust.
To gain the trust and cooperation of a team member the leader must go first.
They must display how much of their own time they are willing to sacrifice to see the team member succeed. They have to show how much energy they are willing to devote to allow a team member to grow.
In 2016 Jack Bird of the Cronulla Sharks rugby league club made his State of Origin debut in Game II of the series. At this point in his career, this game signified his most important achievement.
Bird suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and requires injections costing $26,000 a year to allow him to chase his professional dreams. Bird was not scheduled to play. An injury to Josh Morris resulted in a last minute call up.
This life changing medication is extremely rare and unstable. The only way to get the medication to Bird in time was to make the 14 hours round trip from Sydney to Coffs Harbour by car.
Bird’s club coach, Shane Flanagan, was fully aware of this cruel twist of fate. Upon learning of Bird’s call up he contacted Bird’s family and said ‘give the medication to me, I’ll drive it up.’
Champion teams don’t talk about the glory of winning the premiership. Champion teams want to do it for each other. They want to do it for the coach.
When a leader shows they are willing to put their life on hold to enable the success of the team they buy-in. They give the leader their trust.
In the week leading up to the grand-final the Cronulla Sharks, and especially Jack Bird, spoke about how they wanted to win it for ‘Flanno’. Fans of rugby league will know the story. Cronulla was a club that was down and out two years earlier. The club stood by their leader and won the premiership.
The same elements of trust and leadership are in play when asking an executive to transform their health. The executive will see a doctor, personal trainer or coach with skepticism. They ask themselves ‘will this work for me?’
The health professional, like the leader, has to go first. They first have to win the trust of the executive.
They must display how much of their own time they are willing to sacrifice to see the executive succeed. They have to show how much energy they are willing to devote to allow the executive to grow.
When an executive’s commitment is being tested they need to think ‘I must do this for the coach’.
Few health professionals think this way. They are not set up to win the trust of their clients. They assume that the client trusts them because of their training or vast experience.
When the client does not comply, the health professional blames the client. Describes them as weak, disorganized or a bad client.
The reality is, when the client doesn’t comply, it is because they don’t trust the leader. To the client, the leader hasn’t displayed that they care. Trust hasn’t been earned.
If you are a leader you have to go first.
The quality so vital in leadership is equally as important when coaching executives to transform their health. Yet, not one doctor, dietician or trainer is talking about it.
You can’t command people to trust you. Trust is not an order. Trust is a feeling created by how willing a leader is to devote their time and energy to those they lead.
It’s easy for a trainer, an executive or the athlete with the ‘c’ next to their name to overlook that we are suspicious by nature. Generations before us may have willingly fallen into line.
Not this generation. We are too self-interested. We want to know what a leader can do for us before we give them our attention and then…maybe our trust.
To gain the trust and cooperation of a team member the leader must go first.
They must display how much of their own time they are willing to sacrifice to see the team member succeed. They have to show how much energy they are willing to devote to allow a team member to grow.
In 2016 Jack Bird of the Cronulla Sharks rugby league club made his State of Origin debut in Game II of the series. At this point in his career, this game signified his most important achievement.
Bird suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and requires injections costing $26,000 a year to allow him to chase his professional dreams. Bird was not scheduled to play. An injury to Josh Morris resulted in a last minute call up.
This life changing medication is extremely rare and unstable. The only way to get the medication to Bird in time was to make the 14 hours round trip from Sydney to Coffs Harbour by car.
Bird’s club coach, Shane Flanagan, was fully aware of this cruel twist of fate. Upon learning of Bird’s call up he contacted Bird’s family and said ‘give the medication to me, I’ll drive it up.’
Champion teams don’t talk about the glory of winning the premiership. Champion teams want to do it for each other. They want to do it for the coach.
When a leader shows they are willing to put their life on hold to enable the success of the team they buy-in. They give the leader their trust.
In the week leading up to the grand-final the Cronulla Sharks, and especially Jack Bird, spoke about how they wanted to win it for ‘Flanno’. Fans of rugby league will know the story. Cronulla was a club that was down and out two years earlier. The club stood by their leader and won the premiership.
The same elements of trust and leadership are in play when asking an executive to transform their health. The executive will see a doctor, personal trainer or coach with skepticism. They ask themselves ‘will this work for me?’
The health professional, like the leader, has to go first. They first have to win the trust of the executive.
They must display how much of their own time they are willing to sacrifice to see the executive succeed. They have to show how much energy they are willing to devote to allow the executive to grow.
When an executive’s commitment is being tested they need to think ‘I must do this for the coach’.
Few health professionals think this way. They are not set up to win the trust of their clients. They assume that the client trusts them because of their training or vast experience.
When the client does not comply, the health professional blames the client. Describes them as weak, disorganized or a bad client.
The reality is, when the client doesn’t comply, it is because they don’t trust the leader. To the client, the leader hasn’t displayed that they care. Trust hasn’t been earned.
If you are a leader you have to go first.
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Jonathan Cawte
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