On Leadership

I came across an editorial on CNNSI.com
on, among other things, the play of Baron Davis and how he’s helped
turn the perpetually bad Warriors around and get them off to their best
start in the franchise’s history.

While the editorial relates to basketball, I think it serves as a great analogy to anything in life that requires leadership and teamwork.

“No disrespect to the point guards who were here in the past, but
Baron’s the type of point guard that makes everybody better,” says
backcourt mate Jason Richardson. “He gets in the lane and just finds
guys. I been waiting for a guy like him to come and he took my game to
another level.”

This is not, incidentally, the type of quote one reads about Marbury,
despite his career averages of 20 points per game and 8 assists. But
this type of appraisal, I would argue, is a simple, but fail-safe way
to assess any point guard: do his teammates like playing with him?

So how, exactly, does one make teammates speak of you with the enthusiasm of Rex Reed
reviewing a big studio film likely to quote him in its print ads? “Everybody
needs special attention, especially from a point guard,” Davis
explained. “It’s about learning my teammates and their personalities.
Being a point guard is about making the guys around you confident to
where they feel like they want to play with you because they know that
you’re looking out for them.
I study guys and know where they like the
ball and where they are effective. When I played with David Wesley and
P.J. Brown, I knew where they liked it and tried to get it to them in
those areas.”

Great lesson to learn on leadership, I think.