In the spirit of full disclosure, I am an unabashed Tony Dungy fan. I’ve been that way since I watched his first game as a University of Minnesota quarterback in the early ˜70′s. Nevertheless, I think managers and leaders (in fact, everyone) can learn a lot from Tony Dungy, the head coach of the current Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts: that nice guys can finish first; that perseverance counts for a lot; and that how you say things is just as important as what you say. I’d like to focus on this last point for a minute.
As the sports pundits give Tony the credit he richly deserves, they continue to refer to one particular scene when he first took over as the Colts head coach. In the first team meeting , and professional football teams have more meetings than the average business , Tony told his team in a very calm voice, “You guys will need to listen carefully, because this is as loud as I get. I’m sure that each of us at one time or another has had a boss or has known someone who has had a boss that was known as a screamer. There are managers and leaders that truly believe that the only way to really mean something is to say it in a loud voice. Tony showed us all that you do not need to be a screamer to get results. Moreover, I contend that successful leaders have a way of being calm under pressure and that I have never known a screamer who can convey a sense of “everything is going to be all right by yelling orders at the top of his/her lungs at their direct reports or peers to get a point across. So what ways do you convey that sense of calmness that Tony Dungy does so well?
Discovered your blog via Brian’s BGSU OD Resource Center. I absolutely love your tag line – “Remembering what you learned in kindergarten¦ how to work and play well with others!”
Really neat blog. You have a new subscriber