Right-Side Back Row Spiking
The Foundations of a Leader
Kaushik Chatterjee
Mitch Trubisky is determined to be a leader on and off the football pitch. The rookie is being aided in his climb by a rather unusual source: the Wall Street Journal’s leadership columnist. Rich Campbell details Trubisky’s “dedicated pursuit to develop into an effective leader” in his article How Mitch Trubisky is being helped on his NFL climb by the Wall Street Journal’s leadership columnist, for the Chicago Tribune.
Trubisky is the Chicago Bears rookie quarterback and is looking to hone his leadership skills from the very beginning. His careful thought into his actions is prominent and was highlighted by his hesitation when celebrating a touchdown. Last Christmas Eve, at Soldier Field, Trubisky stood in the end zone, pondering the appropriate way to celebrate; should he make snow angels with Josh Bellamy and Kendall Wright, or let Cody Whitehair spike it? Trubisky knows the importance of how he celebrates this touchdown. As he puts it, “There’s always somebody watching me. Fans are watching. Little kids are watching. My teammates are watching. I definitely want to keep that in mind with every little thing I do. I have to carry myself in a way that’s positive.”
Trubisky cares about body language, and how it is interpreted. He realizes that even the smallest things can significantly affect his image. His quest began with Sam Walker’s book, ‘The Captain Class’ (Sam Walker was a former sportswriter, and is the current leadership columnist at the WSJ). Walker examines the 17 greatest sports dynasties of all time, concluding with “The most crucial ingredient in a team that achieves and sustains greatness is the character of the player who leads it.” As Campbell puts it, “His analysis of those 17 respective team leaders was a warm blanket for Trubisky.”
Walker’s book provided Trubisky with leadership’s most important requirement: authenticity. “It has to be genuine,” Trubisky said. “It has to be real. A lot of things in the book really resonated with me and gave me even more confidence being myself.” He began to use the book as a blueprint, making it a habit to practice what he had learned. Trubisky also talks frequently with Walker, who has (more or less) become the Bears’ leadership consultant. In fact, it was during one of Walker’s offseason talks where Walker broke down Trubisky’s touchdown: Bellamy was yelling for Trubisky to do a snow angel. Trubisky, however, promised to give the ball to Whitehair. Whitehair was buried in a pile of bodies though, so Trubisky agreed to make snow angels with Bellamy and Wright. Walker praised Trubisky for letting his teammates lead the celebrations, instead of putting himself at the center of attention.
Trubisky aims to use body language to his advantage whenever possible. Eye contact, body contact, and gestures help him illuminate his point, show engagement and demonstrate interest. Trubisky is striving to become a more effective leader and player. He keeps a screenshot of Walker’s seven traits of great leaders on his phone:
- Extreme doggedness and focus on competition.
- Aggressive play that tests the limits of the rules.
- A willingness to do thankless jobs in the shadows.
- A low-key, practical and democratic communication style.
- Motivates others with passionate nonverbal displays.
- Strong convictions and the courage to stand apart.
- Ironclad emotional control.
Some of these traits he already excels at; others he’s constantly working towards. Mitch Trubisky is working towards not just becoming a great football player, but a strong leader and communicator, which is arguably the most important trait an athlete could have. This is just a small snippet of Rich Campbell’s incredible article. You can check out the full thing here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/ct-spt-bears-mitch-trubisky-leadership-sam-walker-20180906-story,amp.html.
Related posts
