I heard an interview a few days ago from the NFL world that I found to be a clear and insightful description of leadership in helping others succeed.
Former All-Pro receiver Cris Carter and current ESPN analyst offered this analysis in discussing what beleaguered wide receive Roy Williams was going to benefit from in returning to work with his former coach Mike Martz with the Bears.
“The best thing in the National Football League is not what you CAN do, it’s having a coach who knows what you CAN’T do….It’s about being put in a position to do what you can do.”
– Cris Carter on Mike & Mike on ESPN radio 8/12/11
Now my own personal expectations as a Bears fan for Roy Williams is limited, but I thought the analysis was great.
I see it as an honest and backdoor approach to strength based leadership. It may seem negative to some, but I think it can be a pretty honest approach to help someone succeed by keeping them out of situations in which they are almost guaranteed to fail.
There’s a movement of strength based leadership today which is long overdue, but it can be somewhat a nebulous search for joy and satisfaction. One of the most direct paths to recognizing your strengths is being able to honestly assess where you don’t have any business spending a lot of your energy and time – where you might be doing more damage than good.
We all can get better at things, but as leaders we want to help people connect with their strengths and set them up to succeed. This includes helping build capacities that don’t come naturally, but also drawing out unique strengths and passions.
I’ve blessed with a couple of leaders who have helped me connect with my strengths and point me towards those, also recognizing where I wasn’t going to bear a lot of fruit. If you’ve had experiences with others who don’t or can’t do that – it’s a blessing!
So especially for those of us people that have great strengths in some contexts, but great weakness or limitations in other contexts – leaders can serve greatly by paying attention to where impact and effectiveness and passion can be nurtured.
Do you have examples of a leader helping you succeed because they knew your limitations?
**I can’t help add this too – positional leadership doesn’t mean you’re automatically the most qualified to lead in particular moments or situations. Lot of damage is done by people trying to do what they frankly aren’t cut out for. The greater the stakes, the more strengths and gifting are needed as opposed to just someone with a title.
