SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/575944
FIELD SCIENCE 14 SportsTurf | October 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com FACILITY & OPERATIONS LEADERSHIP BEGINS WITH PEOPLE, NOT POSITIONS Before you can lead others, you must first manage yourself. Leadership is not so much a position you hold as it is a set of disciplines and behaviors you practice, the first and most fundamental of which is self-discipline. A leader without self- discipline is a disaster waiting to happen. Leaders are the ones who take responsibility for mak- ing decisions and bringing change. Leaders are the ones who empower people to discover and use their greatest potential. If you want to be a leader, then act like a leader and shape a better reality. IT'S ABOUT INFLUENCE, NOT AUTHORITY Leaders want to get the best out of their teams. Here is the simple truth. Instead of telling your team members what to do, show it to them by your own example. Practice what you preach, and the results may astonish you. Especially during hard times, when chances to give up are very big, you should be the one who faces obstacles with confidence and determination toward success. People follow the leader first and the vision second. If people aren't committed to you, they will not be committed to the vision you communicate. Always seek to have your level of influence exceed your level of authority. Indeed, your influence is your authority. You establish your personal credibility and authority by consistently living your core values and demon- strating that you are a person others can trust. Become a person other people want to follow. LEADING MEANS MAKING AN IMPACT Think about the greatest leaders in history. What was the one thing they had in common? Yes, they all made an impact. Leadership is not just setting goals and effectively achieving them with your team. You should make a positive change. A commitment to continuous improvement derives from the leader's recognition that success requires constant adjustment; today's world deals ruthlessly with people and organizations who fail to adapt and change. LEADERSHIP IS CHASING A VISION Without a vision, your activities are meaningless. Each person can be very busy implementing various tasks, but the key is devoting your efforts and time to the realization of your vision. Vision is what inspires people to take action and go forward. WHAT DOES "LEADERSHIP" MEAN? Editor's note: We hear the word "leadership" and "leader" all the time. Many of us have urged our children to "be a leader." And many of us have at one time or another decried the "lack of leadership" at our jobs. Many readers are supervisors, crew leaders and so on; in another word, leaders in their organizations. Here we present some ideas about the concept IMAGE ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/MATTJEACOCK