Motivating others toward a common goal

The Mentor Leader: Tony Dungy

 

In my life and career I have seen all types of leaders, but the ones who have had the greatest positive impact on my life are the select few who have not only been leaders, but mentors. 

 

Leadership is not an innate, mystical gift; rather it is a learned ability to influence the attitudes and behavior of others. 

 

As their title suggests, mentor leaders seek to have a direct, intentional, and positive impact on those they lead.  At its core, mentoring is about building character into the lives of others, modeling and teaching attitudes and behaviors, and creating a constructive legacy to be passed on to future generations of leaders. 

 

Too often we choose people to mirror or model and leadership books to read, solely for the purpose of trying to figure out how to win more games or increase our financial bottom line.  In the process of choosing leadership models to emulate, we choose people who have won a lot of games or made a lot of money with little thought of how they affect the lives of the people around them.  If along the way, people’s lives are made better, it is viewed as a wonderful bi-product rather than the primary purpose of leadership.

 

Success for a mentor leader is measured by different standards than those commonly accepted in our society.  Mentor leadership is about, shaping, nurturing, empowering, and growing.  It’s all about relationships, integrity, and perpetual learning.  Success is measured in changed lives, strong, character, and eternal values rather than material gain, temporal achievement, or status.  Ultimately mentor leadership is just as successful in achieving the standards of accomplishment in our society. 

 

The Program Meeting Notes: Eric

 

*You will play like champions if you look like champions

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*Carries over to discipline

 

*If you add humor to a bad or stressful situation, people lose faith in you.  Don’t let humor be your defense mechanism in intense situations.

 

*With influence comes responsibility

 

*Figure out what the mission is.  Everyone should know it like the back of their hand.  If everyone on your team cannot clearly articulate the mission, then it’s not worth the piece of paper it is written on.

 

* Come up with 3 things that if you are one of us you have to have.  If you don’t embody it then you aren’t one of us.