Kobe Bryant: Obsessed with Winning

Here is Kobe’s thinking about leading a team to win:

“How to truly make players better, what that really means,” he said. “It’s not just passing to your guys and getting them shots. It’s not getting this or that many players into double figures. That’s bull[expletive]. That’s not how you win championships. You’ve got to change the culture of your team – that’s how you truly make guys better. In a way, you have to help them to get the same DNA that you have, the same focus you have, maybe even close to the same drive. That’s how you make guys better.

“I’ve never understood this stuff, where a star player sits out and a team goes into the tank. Well, they need him because he makes them better. Well, if he’s making them better, they should be able to survive without him. That’s how you lead your guys. You’ve got to be able to make guys suffice on their own, without you. If you’re there all the time and they take you away, they shouldn’t need a respirator.

“Once I understood all that, I looked at things completely different. I took my hands off. I didn’t try to control them. I let them make decisions, make their own [expletive]-ups and I was there to try and help them through it.”

Hmmm…did he really say “you’ve got to change the culture of your team.”? Yeah, he said that. Remember, this insight comes from a guy who is absolutely obsessed with winning championships. Not with playing basketball, not with winning games, not with being a great team member, not with being a leader, Kobe doesn’t care about any of that (expletive). He cares about winning the championship. And he just said that the way to do it is by creating a culture where everyone shares the same winning obsessed DNA. And judging from the results, he has figured out how to do just that.

So how do you inspire a championship mentality? First you need to become obsessed with it yourself and then become obsessed with figuring out how to instill this in your company. You try things. A lot of things to see what really works. And you let the team try things, to see what works. Most leaders are at least a little bit obsessive. But that’s like being a little bit pregnant. Go for it. Do it. Stay up all night and figure out how to win. And be attentive to the specifics of your obsession.  Are you obsessed about leadership? About stock price? About quarterly results? Or are you obsessed with being the best in your market or the best to your customers. Are you focused on you, or on your team? A lot of questions I know, but I think you can read my bias. The point is, get obsessed about the right things, the big things, the ultimate end game. Hang out with your team and share your obsession. Make it contagious. Jobs does this, Welch did it and Kobe does it. What more proof do you need? Go for it.

Going for it means you need to stop worrying about balance. A heretical idea. But that’s what it takes. Leaders spend most waking and some sleeping time thinking about their obsession, they talk about it, read about it, work on it and work on it some more. It is an all out effort in a very specific direction. You may be tired but you will also be energized and you will never be bored. You will also become profoundly interesting to others, even magnetic. When that happens things start to go your way. People, money, solutions start coming to you.  In short, your life will change. Anyone can do this. You just have to decide it, declare it and go for it.

Good luck!

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