WHAT THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS TAUGHT US ABOUT LEADERSHIP

The San Antonio Spurs put on a clinic in the 2014 NBA playoffs.  A leadership clinic that is. I see so many
things through the lens of leadership.  Every team in the NBA, just like most organizations, is looking for the next great player who can do it all.  A Lebron James who is freakishly athletic, multi skilled and without question the best player on the planet. NBA teams are trying to draft this player, just as corporations are trying to hire this person.  Corporations want the employee who works 60 - 80 hours a week, see's all and do all.  This employee can cover the weaknesses of other employees (especially the leader) and the organization as a whole.  Having this employee or even better a "big three" of these employees makes life easier on the leader.  Why?  Because the leader doesn't really have to lead.

Now let's take a look at the Spurs.  This a team of players who each have an area of strength, but I would argue that there is not one player on the team who can do it all.  Think about it, how often do we come across someone who can do it all?  How often do we see someone who can do it all for an entire career, without burning out?  It's a special thing, that's why it's such a big deal when we see it happening.  Usually we are blessed with a team of constituents who may not be "Superman", but all have an area of strength.  The Spurs model, as I see it, identifies the strengths of their players, develops those strengths and then masterfully develops a system where players can work in their area of strength for to drive performance.  The leaders lead by creating an environment where players are appreciated for the strength that they bring and not judged for the tools they don't. If a situation calls for a different strength, the leadership on the team looks to a player or group of players with the skill set and strengths to deliver what the team needs.  

However before any of this can happen, Coach Popovich creates deep relationships with his players.  These relationships develop trust between player and coach.  This trust is the magic ingredient for players to give over power to the coaching staff.  The important part about power is the capacity to influence that is given by the player to the coaching staff.  When people give that capacity to influence to someone, they are saying, I allow you to lead me.  It's one thing to listen to what a coach says, it's an entirely new dimension to allow a coach to influence you.  Influence leads to change. Listening doesn't lead to change with out influence.  Popovich understands the importance of the player coach relationship to facilitate the influence he needs.  All this creates a culture where players are focused on winning.  Everyone in the organization is solution focused in their pursuit of this goal.

Real organizational leadership involves identifying the skill sets and "strength sets" of constituents and working with your team to figure out the best way to use those strengths to drive maximum performance.  Any kind of real leadership need influence and an environment where the seeds of influences have been planted and are always being fertilized.  The San Antonio Spurs aren't sitting around waiting for a Lebron James to drop in their lap.  They are a model of best practice of identifying, developing, leveraging strengths and creating influencing relationships to drive performance.