This level is about knowing that your players are watching you all the time, and they are trying to determine – Do I want to give this coach permission to coach me?

With the coaches I mentor and advise, I always start with the following question – “Tell me a little about your development plan” – the answer usually informs me as to where they are in their leadership journey, and how serious they are about coaching, because… 

“Your level of success will seldom exceed your level of self-development. As success is something you attract by the person you become.” 

As a recap, here are the 5 LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP that were introduced last month:

• Coach to Leader Series: An Introduction
• Level 1 – Position (Rights) – people follow because they have to
• Level 2 – Permission – (Relationships) – people follow because they want to
• Level 3 – Production – (Results) – people follow because of what you have done for the organization/club
• Level 4 – People Development – (Reproduction) – people follow because of what you have done for them
• Level 5 – Pinnacle – (Respect) – people follow because of who you are and what you represent

This month we will look at LEVEL 2 – PERMISSION – “Leaders find out who their people are, and followers find out who their leaders are.”

This level is where you know your players are providing you, or giving you, permission to lead them. This will be because you’re connecting with them or building relationships with them. Every follower or player on your team is subconsciously asking themselves the following three questions:

1. Can you help me?
2. Do you care about me?
3. Can I trust you?

Level 1 was about the leader having the right to tell people what to do – it is about position.

This level is about knowing that your players are watching you all the time, and they are trying to determine – Do I want to give this coach permission to coach me?

In the great NFL Coach Tony Dungy’s book, Uncommon, he has a quote from the author, Robert Fulghum that says, “Don’t worry that the children never listen to you, worry that they are always watching you.”

Within this Level 2 there are three Laws that we should investigate:

1. Law of Addition – “Leaders add value to others, by serving others”

• The best leaders have an attitude, a heart, and actions to serve other people by adding and multiplying their influence and leadership of those they serve.
• This reveals their true CHARACTER.
• Here is a link to an article in The Athletic, about Tubby Smith (NCAA Basketball Coach) who has won an NCAA Championship as HC of the University of Kentucky – it reveals this law to a T: ‘A father figure to a lot of us’: Tubby Smith’s former Kentucky players share memories on eve of his banner ceremony – The Athletic

2. Law of Solid Ground – “Trust is the foundation of leadership”

• TRUST is the currency to all leadership and for your players to trust you, you need to be authentic as it is a trust accelerator – players possess the best BS detectors and if they do not feel you are truly authentic, they will tune you out and trust is near impossible as they will not follow you.
• Charisma and showmanship can get you into the door (LEVEL 1), but it is CHARACTER that keeps you inside. The best coaches/leaders are bigger on the inside (CHARACTER), than on the outside (Charisma).

3. Law of Connection – “Leaders touch a heart, before they ask for a hand”

• As coaches we are all driven to want to produce results, however this law is about connecting with your players emotionally before asking to do so physically.
• As leaders we need to lead people how they need to be led and we can’t lead them all the same.
• Your players need to know that they can trust you and that before they go along with you there must be some connection established.
• Once you connect with their heart it is amazing how you can help them and how they will let you do so – show that you care and discover their wants and what they are all about – don’t just assume that because you are a Coach that that connection will take place.
• Having a Vision of where your team should go is great, however, your players will first buy into you as the leader before they buy into your vision.
• Here is another great article to showcase this Law — Marcus Freeman envisions hands-on, collaborative approach at Notre Dame – ‘Be a teammate’ (espn.com)

The best way to get to LEVEL 2, is every day invest into your team in such a way that they sense your genuineness, your authenticity, your concern, and care for them, as they know when the coach is in it for themselves and when they are in it for the team and its players. 

The difference between these two is remarkable, and will no doubt show in your team’s results, either way. 

Get on a development plan for yourself and not just take it for granted.

Until next time… BE OUTSTANDING!!!