Are You Ready to be a Leader?

We are at the pointy end of the season for the football codes, that is, rugby league and AFL. For those who have fallen out of the Finals race, they have their Mad Monday and the analysis begins as to what has to be done to go one better next year.

For some clubs, the analysis is also coming from external critics or should I say observers.

The two Queensland clubs that were in the finals are both out and the analysis of their Finals losses is very different.

The Brisbane Lions have had a wonderful season. It is the first time they have been in a Finals series in a decade. They have a lot of young, talented players and are being coached by Chris Fagan, who was part of the Hawthorn juggernaut specifically during their winning of three consecutive premierships. He strategically brought Hawthorn legend, Luke Hodge into the Lions Team, a leader by any means regardless of whether he has the title or not. Lions only lost by three points to lose their place in the Finals.

Brisbane Broncos on the other hand lost by 58 points to fall out of the Finals. Darius Boyd, as the captain of the Broncos, has received possibly the harshest criticism and there is no doubt the Leader of any Team has a huge impact on team performance. There have to be some questions asked though. What steps have been taken to ensure Boyd was ready for leadership? Just because he is one of the most experienced members of the Team does not mean he was ready. What was done to ensure he could succeed in his role? Yes their loss was horrific but they still made the Finals. That seems to have been forgotten. Looking much further up the chain of hierarchy at the Brisbane Broncos may give a clearer indication of what is going on in that club.

Leadership is possibly the hardest role to step into. It is not a walk in the park. Do you have ‘leaders’ in your business who are struggling? What has been done to ensure they succeed?