Wouldn’t it be great to have a coach helping to call plays that would make you a better leader? Growing up in the UCLA heydays of John Wooden coaching unprecedented national champions, I wished he were my coach. I knew it would have made me a better player (that and an additional inch of height…well 3 inches of vertical leap would have helped).
When I ask who I need to interview for my podcast Strategies for Tomorrow’s Leaders, I am repeatedly pointed to Jamey Rootes, President of the Houston Texans. I was anxious to speak with him again when I learned of his new book being released today.
The Winning Game Plan: A Proven Leadership Playbook for Continuous Business Success
Scott McClelland, President of HEB Food and Drug made the observation many of us have had “I wonder what it would be like to work for Jamey Rootes?”
While Jamey built one of the most highly regarded front office teams, not only in the NFL but in all of professional sports, we now get to step into his locker room, to see the leadership playbook that has catapulted Jamey far beyond Reliant Stadium.
In today’s crazy world rattled by the atmosphere of uncertainty, his passion-filled optimistic walk challenges us to throw aside fear and with hyper focus take steps toward the goals we feel led to chart.
Everything will be okay in the end, and if its’ not okay, it’s not the end.
Jamey’s playbook calls us to huddle and inspire our teams by fighting the desire to control. We’ve heard the phrase micro-manager. I’ve worn that label more than once. He accurately points out that the phrase micro-leader doesn’t exist. That’s a tough mirror to look into if you are trying to scale a business. And definitely if you want to have stability in your home with your spouse or children.
Another mirror Jamey’s game plan calls for is to lead our teams with transparency and authenticity. Leaders I’ve studied throughout my career have repeatedly asked the question “what value do they truly bring to the organization”. Drive results. Be the Go-To guy. Display your brilliance. Jamey points out that to maximize our effectiveness, leaders have to embrace the reality that you don’t know everything . . . and you never will. Dialog opens the doors to overcoming obstacles much more than monologs.
In the rough and tumble atmosphere of football, speed…strength…and agility are key ingredients for success on the field. While they bring value to effective leadership, the center post that creates energy in a team is Clarity. Growing up in Louisiana, what might surprise you is our favorite sport my wife and I like to watch is figure skating. Jumps are great but I am always in awe when the skater begins a twirl, gaining speed like a whirling dervish as they begin with arms spread then draw them closer and closer to their body centering their energy.
Clarity does that for a leader. Your team gains strength as you create focus on key objectives, strategies, steps. As you define what success looks like. Without clarity, you have no buy-in. And without buy-in, you only get an atmosphere of compliance, not commitment.
Today, more than any other time Jamey points our attention to the need for leaders to step up, step forward to bring calmness and steadiness to your company, project…and your family. The Winning Game Plan is both an easy and difficult read. Easy as it is filled with engaging stories to make the message come alive. Difficult if you are willing to look in the mirror while you are reading it to be challenged to take your leadership to world-class proportions.
The Winning Game Plan: A Proven Leadership Playbook for Continuous Business Success