Leadership Lessons from a Pool Deck - Part 1

I'm not in California often but when I am I'm reminded why people love to live here. Cool mornings - cool evenings - and warm sunny days, for the most part. It makes for a great outdoor swim meet which we don't get in Ohio! I'm in Santa Clara for the International Grand Prix, a meet filled with swimmers from around the world - Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, Argentina and more. It's been a good weekend of officiating and swimming with the added plus of the incredible California weather.

A big piece of this Sabbatical is about pursuing my passion for the sport of swimming. I still can't believe the opportunities I have to meet other officials from around the nation, be at meets with world record holders and gold medalists and enjoy a sport that was so good to me. The coming Olympic Trials are a rare privilege indeed. One of the benefits of this hobby is learning leadership from people around the country.

I'm constantly on the lookout for lessons on leadership and a pool deck is a great place to learn. Officials teams give me an up close and personal opportunity while watching coaches and swimmers from afar brings a different perspective. Pool decks are filled with some incredible leaders. They've taught me to be a better official, a better team player and a better leader.

One goal I have for the summer is to capture as many of those lessons as possible to compile them into a book(let). There, I made it public! So check up on me!!

Here is my 1st Draft of possible sections or chapters, all of which have been very much informed by my mentors:

1. Be A Team Player – fit in – don't complain about your assignment and stay "in your box" as far as offering suggestions or even if asked for feedback. If you're not supervising or evaluating, then stay clear.
   
   
2. Be a Servant – just take care of it and don't worry whether anyone knows about it or not. This is not a contradiction to staying "in your box." One is for verbal advice giving while serving is about just doing it to be helpful.
   
   
3. Be Consistent – do the same thing that got you to where you are. Be yourself. Learn but don't try to imitate someone who is a different height, size, gender or person. Be you. And conversely, don't try to make someone else fit what you do.
   
   
4. Always Learn - at every meet learn something. That's what makes for a successful meet.
   
   
5. Encourage others – catch people doing something well, especially for those on a national deck for the first time
6. The deck has ears – and so much can be misinterpreted so watch what you say. Better to be a quiet presence. Simply do your job, do it well and let others notice.
7. Anticipate instead of Assume
8. Smile - if you're not enjoying yourself then take a break or be done. If you find yourself complaining more than complimenting, then make a change.

Steve (a fellow official) and I were discussing a leadership scenario about leading persons older than you. Steve has more experience with this and so I asked: "What is the smartest thing you've done in your career (as an engineer, project manager, working with lasers) when leading such a team?" His answer was straightforward: "Respect their experience, ask them questions, listen and then be ok with being responsible for the final decision."

That's probably good advice for any leadership scenario. Listen first. A leader isn't the one who knows it all or knows more than others. A leader has to make the final decision but the leader is also wise to want more data, more input, different perspectives. Don't take it personally when someone says they didn't like a decision if you gathered advice and thoughts but then made the leadership choice.

Everybody is a leader somewhere, if only leading yourself which is where all leadership begins. What are your leadership lessons? How are you learning and growing your leadership?