I wanna be like Mike...

Who do I wanna be like?

This was the question that ran though my head when instructed to "Think of a time when you willingly followed the direction of someone you admired and respected as a leader" at Leadership Snohomish County's Fall Retreat.

Millions of Gatorade drinking, NBA dreaming, neighborhood court playing youth wanted to be like Michael Jordan in the early 90's. I'm sure some of us still do.
It's true that many consider MJ to be the best basketball player of all time, but did that make him a leader? Maybe, maybe not.

Did Mike make his team members feel confident, capable, imaginative and creative? Were they calm in his presence? Did they feel like they had skills and abilities to bring to the table? Maybe, maybe not.

Did Michael give his team members 100% of his attention and focus when meeting? Did he give praise and encouragement, tell them to run with it when they had an idea that was outside of the box? Did he work hard and care about his job? Was he honest? Did he recognize when it was time to let go, and encourage team members to move on to other opportunities when there was a chance for personal growth? Maybe, maybe not.

I couldn't possibly tell you if Michael Jordan did all of these things with his team. But I can tell you my first non-profit agency supervisor did. And she was a leader. The kind of leader I wanna be like.