My parents taught me about leadership and accountability, and I haven’t stopped learning and growing. I feel that I’m just as curious now as I was when I was younger. I enjoy seeing how leaders of different organizations, whether they’re in sports, government or business, teach leadership, goodwill and accountability.
This recent article written by Gene Healey for the Chattanooga Times Free Press caught my eye. In short, the University of Tennessee–Chattanooga football team’s wide receivers coach gives his players two teachable moment options if they forget to bring their playbooks to a team meeting. Option 1 is to run, which, up to this point, no one has chosen to do. Option 2 is to sing a song of their choosing in front of teammates, which he then records and posts to Twitter. He found a nontraditional mechanism to teach accountability in a manner that works for him and his team.
My point is that as professionals we should all continue striving to find ways to have fun while instilling lessons that can be learned and shared in an environment that fosters communication and breaks down man-made barriers, such as our own egos. There are times and places for everything; but teaching, growing and learning can in fact be enjoyable.