The Leadership Formula

The Leadership Formula = Vision + Genuine Empathy + Don’t Give a Crap.

Think of a someone you have worked with who was a leader. It could be a current manager, a mentor, or maybe a former teacher or coach. Ask yourself, what was it that set them apart and made them a leader?

Are you a leader? Think about the qualities you possess that enable you to lead.

I have worked with many different type of personalities in my career and they have spanned the spectrum from leader to quiet, individual contributor. What I’ve noticed is all leaders have the same characteristics. They may not have the same styles or work ethics, but they all share the same “it” factors that define them as a leader.

Leaders motivate people to take action, but how?

VISION

Each leader I know possesses a clear picture of what they wanted to achieve, and where they want to go. Just as the fabled soothsayer could accurately foretell the future, these leaders don’t simply know where they want to go, they can already see it. This is the Vision that all leaders possess, telling members of their teams, with conviction “We are going there”.

GENUINE EMPATHY

It also helps when you actually like, and respect the leader you are with. Each of the leaders I have spent time with cared about me - and other members of the team - in a genuine way. We didn’t have to be “best friends”, but each leader showed Genuine Empathy for their followers and teammates. No phoniness, no lack of caring, but a respect for those around them.

DON’T GIVE A CRAP

These same leaders are strong at silencing the noise around them. They have a relentless focus on task at hand. Because their vision is so strong, and since they care about those around them, everything that gets in the way of the task, every hurdle, is just another problem that gets solved quickly because it’s in the way. All of these leaders Don’t Give a Crap about ancillary things that stand in the way of the goal.

I call this the Leadership Formula. Vision + Genuine Empathy + Don’t Give a Crap

As a Detroit Lions fan, I am a huge supporter of their coach, Dan Campbell. He might be the best leader to ever coach an NFL team and is certainly the best to every lead the Lions franchise.

He exhibits all of the components of the Leadership Formula.

Vision - When Dan Campbell was hired, he laid out the vision for what his football team would be like. There is of course the famous “Kneecaps” metaphor he gave at his opening press conference. This was about how tough he envisioned his players being.

He has never wavered from this vision, especially when times were tough.

Towards the end of his first season, with only 2 wins in the books against 13 losses and a tie, the coach told his owner “we’ve kind of been in the Arctic Ocean, but we’re headed to the Caribbean. You can see it, I can see it. It’s not always easy to see, there’s a long way to go, but we’re heading there, I do know that.”

He literally said “I CAN SEE IT” when referring to where the team is going. This clear vision is what leaders have as they march towards their destination.

Genuine Empathy - Dan Campbell is famous for wearing emotions on his sleeves. When the team loses a close game, he is visibly frustrated or upset - not angry, but heartbroken for his team and his players.

During pre-season training camp at the start of his second season as head coach, he emotionally told his team “I’ve got a plan, I swear to you. All I think about is you guys, that’s all I think about, man.” He goes on to say, in a profanity-laced speech, that he’s trying to set his players up for the best possible advantage.

ALL I THINK ABOUT IS YOU GUYS. Caring for those you lead builds trust and strength as the unit marches towards the goal.

Don’t Give a Crap - The goal in business is to succeed by generating profits. The goal in sports is to win. Sometimes, you win big, and sometimes you make a statement with that big win. This past season, the Lions went to Dallas and beat the Cowboys handily, 47-9, one of the most lopsided home losses for the Cowboys in their storied history. It was such a big victory that some politicians took to the air and decried the blowout as “classless”.

What was Dan Campbell’s take on those reactions? “The last time somebody called me classless, I was drinking wine out of a bottle. ... I'm not worried about it.”

I’M NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT. To him, this was just noise and didn’t do anything to help his team achieve their goals. Not only did he not care, he gave an example of a time when he truly was classless! He really doesn’t give a crap about what others outside the locker room think of him. Leaders care about where they are going (the goal), the team (the stakeholders), and really nothing else.

Leaders lead, that’s what they do. But how is that done exactly? This is the Leadership Formula.