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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
The Making of a Leader summary
Tom Young
What Elite Sport Can Teach Us About Leadership, Management and Performance
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4.4 (89 ratings)
21 mins
7 key ideas
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What is The Making of a Leader about?
The Making of a Leader (2020) is an invaluable trove of leadership wisdom. Drawing on interviews with seven coaches at the peak of their profession, it explains not only what a great leader is but how you can make yourself into one.
About the Author
Tom Young is a performance psychologist with a track record of working with individuals at the highest levels of professional sports. He has been a consultant for the Belgian national soccer team and the 2018 European Ryder Cup team.
Table of Contents
Key idea 1 of 7
There’s no one path to becoming a leader. Unique backgrounds bring unique strengths.
Where do leaders come from? Is there a special recipe – some set of experiences or diplomas that imbue a person with a quality called “leadership”? Or do leaders simply come into the world fully formed – blessed with the right genes or born under an auspicious star?
Despite what some people might have you believe, leaders come from anywhere and everywhere. There is no single set of qualities or experiences or qualifications that results in great leadership. And, no matter what field you’re in, there is no single path to becoming a leader. Some paths may be more common than others, but it’s important to remember that there are many ways to make a great leader.
The key message in this blink is: There’s no one path to becoming a leader. Unique backgrounds bring unique strengths.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that the only way to accomplish something is to follow the same path you’ve seen others take. When it comes to leadership, however, there’s no one path to the top. Even among a fairly narrow section of top leaders – professional sports coaches – we see a range of backgrounds.
Take Spanish soccer manager Roberto Martinez. His father was a player and a coach, and so Martinez was raised in the game and played professionally for years before transitioning into a managing career. Now compare Martinez to Australian rugby manager Michael Maguire, who taught mathematics, science, and physical education at a high school as he rose through the rugby ranks. Similar results. Wildly different paths.
Just as there’s no single ideal path to leadership, there’s no single ideal style of leadership, either. Each leader brings her own unique strengths – strengths that stem from her background and personality.
For example, English soccer manager Sean Dyche cites his time working as a youth coach. This experience gave him invaluable teaching skills that have transferred to his current position coaching at the highest level of English soccer – in the Premier League.
You might not think children and elite professionals with multimillion-dollar salaries have much in common, but Dyche would disagree. While coaching children, he learned about patience, development, and joy for the game. What’s more, understanding those things has helped him succeed when the stakes are at their highest.
So don’t forget to look to your background for inspiration, even if it’s unconventional. In fact, you should draw on your background, especially if it’s unconventional. You may find that your past, like Dyche’s, is an unlikely wellspring of leadership skills.
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Who should read The Making of a Leader
- Anyone who’s coached from the couch
- New bosses
- Leaders searching for an identity
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