Unexpected Leader Lesson

I was sitting there watching my 14 yr old daughters volleyball game and realized how many leadership lessons I was observing. Here's few leadership lessons from an unexpected source:

1. Communication is key

It was amazing to hear these girls communicated about where they were, who was the setter, who got the ball, etc... When they were communicated well...they played well. When they didn't...well their game suffered.

2. Stay in Your Lane

In volleyball, just as in an organization, everyone has a position and a part to play. It causes a lot of chaos when you start "playing" someone's position. That's not to say they when someone goes down or needs help you ignore them.

3. Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Ball-hogs do not do well on a team. In the game I was watching it was interesting to see how the girls worked the "bump-set-spike". Rather than one girls just blasting it over the net every time, the team approach of movement, rhythm, and ball striking led to a great team win.

4. Encouragement

One of the greatest qualities of this team is the way they are celebrating each other's win and lifting each other up when they fail. The constant encouragement lifted the player(s) who were struggling up out of their sorrow.

5. Failure is Not Final

After losing game one, the team fought back and lifted each other up and came out winning the next 2 games. Your team, business, company, may not win every game - but you can still walk away with the overall win. Stay in the game!