is a very popular term. People like it. People want to be coached and they want to be coaches, so they use that term, even if what they're really doing is training. Training is teaching people basic skills to perform a given task. Coaching is tweaking those skills once a person knows how to play. Coaching is the next level. And it's definitely not the same as leadership.
Unlike coaching, leadership is something that's very fluid. Some people work three, four, or five years before they're respected as leaders. Other people come in and, because of the way they carry themselves, their personality traits, or their ability to communicate, they are seen as leaders from their first day. In many cases that is unfair, but it happens.
Sometimes a label or an old offhand comment about a person overpowers what they actually say and do. For example, one team I worked with had a great young pitcher who was 24 years old. He threw 96 miles an hour. An average fastball is about 89, so he had a lot of talent. But his body language was so negative and aggressive that his teammates didn't like to play behind him in a defensive role. He'd prance around the mound or stare down a guy if he missed a ball. He just wasn't a fun person to be around, so after a period of time we traded him to another team.
That led to an interesting development. The next year we were playing that pitcher's new team in our stadium and I was out by the batting cage. The manager of the other team came over and said, “Dr. Jack, I have a serious question. We've got this pitcher who throws 96, is an amazing talent, but he's driving me nuts. His body language is bad. Players don't like him. He's a disruption in the dressing room, and I don't know what to do about it. I notice that you guys had him last year. What did you do?”
“We traded him to you.”
We had a good laugh and that team kept him one more month before trading him to a third team. They kept him one month and then he was released. His career was over at 26 years old because of his body language; not because of his lack of knowledge, not because of his lack of skill, not because of his lack of ability to perform, but his body language.
So it's important to understand the importance of a leader's body language. If you're not the kind of person who likes to pay attention to those kinds of details, then you might not want to be a leader.
Now we're going to look at two different aspects of leadership: assets and liabilities. I think these elements shape everything people do. The assets are the things that make you who you are and make you good at what you do, both personally and professionally. The liabilities are the things that you would like to do better, areas in which you don't feel as competent as you should; in short, those things about yourself that drive you nuts. Everybody has both. I use them with every single person in every single program I do. Whether it's a corporate coaching program, a sales program, or a sport environment, everybody lists their assets and liabilities.
Now, we'll get into detail about those because I think they form the foundation of who we are, what we can or cannot do. In other words, if you have certain expectations of yourself, if others have expectations of you, or if you set short- and long-term goals, your assets and liabilities will determine how you meet them. Before we set expectations and goals, how many of us examine our assets and liabilities? If we don't take into consideration our assets and liabilities, we get ourselves in a bind because we may not be able to do what we set out to. Some people have a liability that hangs over their heads. Those people need to examine that first to figure out how to eliminate it, convert it to an asset, or learn to live with it.
Next, we'll talk about the role of emotion. Emotion makes us who we are. You can look at two people's assets, liabilities, knowledge, and skills and compare them. If they are evenly matched in knowledge and skills, the person who's mentally stronger will win most every time. That's why we put a lot of emphasis on looking at emotional strengths. Let's face it, emotions either become a supplement or a detriment to performance.
It's also important to look at balance. I get so concerned when I go to corporations where people work long hours. Research has indicated that if you're very good at what you do and you work 10 hours a day, 7.5 to 8 of those hours will be productive. It also shows that if you're very good at what you do and you work 13 hours a day, you still get 7.5 to 8 hours of productivity. It's like stretching four years of college into six. Mom and Dad keep paying but you get the same education.
This is why we'll talk about time in terms of quality versus quantity, and that relates directly to balance. I've seen so many people who've worked so many hours that they've destroyed their families. They steal time away from their spouses, children, and friends, they sacrifice their leisure activities, and they begin to hate their jobs because their jobs have stolen everything important to them.
If you're a leader in a corporate environment, you need to help your colleagues understand that work is not who you are, it's what you do. The same goes for leadership. There are a lot of people in positions of power who bring a lot of baggage from the job into their personal lives, which makes them very unpleasant to be around because they get wrapped up in a strange power syndrome. True leaders need to understand that a job is what you do to enable the enjoyment of your personal life.
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