I think leaders should be reliable – to me that means you know what to expect, that their approach and approachability won’t change with conditions or moods. So that you have confidence going in that the conversation will be about facts, not personalities. I was talking to someone last night about this as it related to my working with Bobby Baldwin – he made it his business to know the business of those that reported to him so he could add value to discussions with them. That part was predictable. What wasn’t predictable were the questions he asked – those were based on his deep knowledge and understanding of whatever each of his direct reports were working on. Meaning we had to work extra hard to be prepared for them. Forcing us to be better. I loved the challenge – it motivated me to work harder to be prepared enough to be able to answer him. The good news: he never thought less of us if we didn’t know something, knowing that would inspire and motivate us to work harder to be more prepared the next time. He knew that if everyone was a prepared as they could be it improved the overall performance and effectiveness of the organization. It wasn’t a game; it was his way of motivating us. Try that approach with your peeps today.
Michael William Krzyzewski (born 1947): American former college basketball coach nicknamed Coach K.[1]
[1] He served as the head coach at Duke University from 1980 to 2022, during which he led the Blue Devils to five national titles, 13 Final Four appearances, 15 ACC tournament championships, and 13 ACC regular season titles. Among men's college basketball coaches, only UCLA's John Wooden has won more NCAA championships (10). Krzyzewski is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time
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