How To Master The Art Of Leadership

LeBron James has been a phenom since he was 13 years old. But unlike other NBA first round draft picks, he actually lived up to the hype. Now, his talent played a huge role in that. But in this video, we're going to explore LeBron's personal playbook for being an exceptional leader so that you can become someone that people are eager to follow as well. First off, you have to realize that we are all going to face challenges in our lives. The hallmark, though, of an effective leader is the ability to transform those challenges into something motivating. And it's the habit of always finding an empowering meaning. Because while you might not like what happens to you in your life, you always have a choice in how you interpret those events.

You're always gonna be going against obstacles, and it's either one or two things that you can do. You can allow it to affect you, or you can allow it to empower you even more.

So when asked about joining a young and a losing squad in the Lakers, LeBron reframes the question like this.

So I like the challenge. I like the challenge of being able to help a team get to some places that they haven't been in quite a while.

When asked how he felt being down three to one against the warriors in the 2016 finals, he responded like this.

I don't know why the man above gives me the hardest role, but there's nothing that man above don't put you in situations that you can't handle. And I just kept that same positive attitude, like, instead of saying, why me? They're saying, this is what he want me to do.

And Perhaps most impressively, LeBron has reframed the fact that his dad wasn't present in his own childhood. While many people would use this as an excuse to underachieve or to not give back, this has given LeBron even greater motivation to take an active role in his community, most recently starting a new school in Akron.

When I was younger, obviously I didn't have a dad. So my whole thing was like, whenever I have a kid, not only is he gonna be a junior, I'm gonna do everything that this man didn't do.

To be clear, I am not saying that any of those situations are good things. Most people would reasonably hope to avoid those difficulties. But an exceptional leader catches themselves when they're desperate and they feel that things are unfair. And instead they ask themselves, how could this be a good thing in disguise? Or what would I have to do to make this situation one that I looked back on and was Glad for that's how they're able to reframe the negative into the motivating. Now, this brings us to the second leadership mindset, which is to focus on your locus of control. There are things in our lives that we have influence over, and there are things that we just don't. When things go wrong, it's extremely tempting to focus on those things outside of our control. That way, we can shift blame to external forces and protect our own egos. In basketball, this might look like blaming the refs, but LeBron almost always resists the temptation to do that.

You're trying to land there.

Do you feel there was a dirty element to some of the stuff that was going on out there?

No. No. I mean, we don't get involved in things we can't control. It's not. It's not how we play ball.

Because even if someone has cheated you, complaining about things doesn't improve your position. Focusing instead on your failings will lead to some uncomfortable moments of reflection. But it reminds you that the only real option for you and your team is to step up and improve. But how do you go about improving? And how do you even measure it? Well, to start off, you need to not get caught up in vanity metrics. This is the third leadership mindset and basketball vanity metrics are usually things that elevate the individual, but not necessarily the team. There are superstars out there today who pad their stats to set new triple double records, to score a certain number of points in a game, or win MVP awards, yet their teams don't win. And you can even make an argument that their selfish playing hurts their teams. The ones who are going to be remembered for decades as the greats are the ones who are not distracted by vanity metrics and instead, instead contribute to wins by whatever means necessary. And great leaders, of course, focus on the things that we all love, like scoring. But the best focus on necessary but unsexy aspects of their craft that often go overlooked. For LeBron, that means elevating his own defensive game.

Defense has always been something in my my game, something I pride more than an offensive end. You know, I've been highly upset that I have never won a defensive player of the year. It was a goal of mine. Still a goal of mine. So we'll see what happens with that.

It means making sure that his teammates.

Shine out on the floor and putting my teammates in position to be successful. You know, that's always been something I've taken pride in.

And of course, it means hustling on plays when everyone else quits to be.

Able to get some shot blocks. And you know me also just not giving up on plays when sometimes guys have, you know, those, have those full court layups and have an opportunity to score.

This, by the way, was the press conference right before this happened in Game 7 of the 2016 Finals. And all this comes together to form a philosophy that is a process and systems oriented one, rather than a goals and results oriented one. To be clear, the goal of winning a championship still exists, but it is achieved by returning to a system of continuous improvement every day. A system that values the elements of the game that often go unrecognized, like work ethic and hustle. Or while the goal might leave you confused as to how to proceed, it's a system that gives you the daily action steps that you need to be world class. As coach Bill Walsh of the 49ers, and he took him from the worst team to the NFL to Super bowl champs in three years, said, I directed our focus less to the prize of victory than to the process of improving, obsessing perhaps about the quality of our execution and the content of our thinking. That's our actions and our attitude. I knew if I did that winning would take care of itself. The last difference between a star and a leader is that leaders make it about other people. In the Bronze own words, I kind.

Of live by the mantra, if I'm living my life for me individually, then I failed as a man. So for me to be able to shed that light, to shed that inspiration, to shed that story for people that look up to me for inspiration, I think that's what means more than anything.

That has meant that LeBron has dedicated himself to making an impact off the court, most recently with the school he opened for at risk kids in his hometown of Akron, Ohio State. If this kind of huge endeavor is daunting to you though, you can start small. For starters, just remember the name of the service people you interact with on a daily basis. The people who most others will treat as automatons.

LeBron Joe Gabriel@kevs.com where you @ Joe? Back here. Okay, I see. That's what we all trying to figure out, Rach. I mean you were around when it was just a five mile bike ride. You know, we was doing the bikeathon.

And or practice enthusiastically celebrating the successes of the people around you. When you're trying to become a leader, it can seem like building other people up can get in the way of your own path to greatness, but actually it's only by doing that that you become a leader in the first place. And if you are inspired by the massive impact LeBron has made, check out our video on Elon Musk for more on defining your own vision of the world that inspires other people to flock to you. I also just recently completely reshot our course on making amazing first impressions. And true to the spirit of this video, it actually comes with a system for improving your ability to quickly make people want be around you. In this case, it's the form of a five day action guide that tells you exactly what you need to do to build specific habits. And if you want to check out that course, go ahead, click the link below to learn more about it. I obviously personally think it's super helpful and if you like our channel, I think it's worth digging into. Also, I am still in the process of updating and editing the entire Charisma University course, but I'm hoping to unveil all of that in time for the New Year. So if you're a CU member, keep your eyes peeled in the coming weeks for that update. Either way, I hope that you guys have enjoyed this video. Subscribe Hit that notification bell if you want to make sure you don't miss out on any other videos that I post every week and I look forward to seeing you next time.