Peter Northouse does an excellent job of introducing concepts regarding diversity and leadership in work settings but I wanted to share my own experience with diverse leadership that yielded success.
Athletics, especially team sports, have a way of bringing people together from a variety of different backgrounds. While playing football at the University of Notre Dame we had a dynamic team. From the coaches, staff members, and players, we had a variety of different people from a variety of different backgrounds. All of us were bonded together because of our beliefs about what we could achieve. The leadership on the team was diverse from the standpoint that the coaches, staff members, and players who were from a variety of different backgrounds and ethnicities. Most people are aware of how teams are structured on paper and that the traditional model of leadership, similar to the “Great Man Theory,” would have you believe that the leadership was structured from the head coach and leadership would trickle down to the players themselves (Williams, 2018). This was true to an extent. Obviously, the team was lead by our head coach and the coaching staff but it takes buy in from the players in order for a team to succeed together and the source of this “buy in” was the diverse leadership amongst us, the players on the team.
As a team, we had a specific culture that was organic and built on trust. With players from all different backgrounds and of all ethnicities, one could assume that our team would have struggled with any of the seven barriers of cultural differences, which are source of identity, goals and means of achievement, orientation to authority, response to ambiguity, means of knowledge acquisition, perspective on time, and outlook on life (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012). Rather than struggling and failing to overcome these barriers, we embraced our differences and used it in order to form a stronger brotherhood. Of the seven barriers, the three that our team overcame and succeeded in response to were; perspective on time, goals and means of achievement, and outlook on life.
Regardless of our backgrounds and norms in our own lives, we as a team shared a common perspective on time. We were focused on the present and our immediate goals each day that would contribute toward our greater goal of being the best defense and team in the country. Our time to achieve our goals was finite. We knew that we had to maximize our time together in preparation for our game each week.
Our goals were simple, to be the best team in the country and to have the best defense in the country. This meant that we had to set smaller goals and make a concentrated effort each day in order to work toward achieving them. The only reward for these goals in our minds was to win a national championship. We were unified in our goals and this directly contributed to how we looked at not only our lives as members of the team but also our lives as individuals off of the field. We took care of one another because we knew that if we did not, we would fail in reaching our goals.
Our outlook on life became synonymous with one another. We were brothers, not only because of simply being on the same team, but because we shared in triumphs and failures that lead up to the 2012 football season. We struggled through injuries, family loss, and other difficulties outside of football yet we remained united. Pictured here is both myself a dear friend of mine who had recently passed away:
While we had four captains, the two defensive leaders on our team could not have been more different. Kap was an African American defensive end from Weatherford, Texas and was easy to get along with and remained constantly positive throughout all of the ups and downs. Our other defensive leader was Manti from Hawaii and was a passionate, vocal leader who constantly set the bar for the rest of his teammates each day. Kap and Manti lead by their example. The younger players on the defense followed and tried to match Kap and Manti’s intensity and focus each day. This began to yield results.
The moment when I realized that our team was special was during the first official “night” game at Notre Dame stadium when we beat the University of Michigan 38-0. It was at that point that I believed that our season was special. It was because we had inspiring leadership that was diverse and genuinely cared for all of the members of our team. Pictured here are three of my teammates and myself from the Michigan game in 2012:
As the season progressed, we struggled through obstacles but were resilient in our effort to remain consistent and together. Week after week, we continued working toward our effort and we began to see the results. Here is a photo of a celebration after a defensive stop before beating Michigan State on the road:
By the time the regular season ended, we would accomplish one of our two goals from the beginning of the year. We were undefeated and ranked as the number one team in the country and had statistically the best defense in the country. While we would go on to lose the national championship game, the 2012 season taught me lessons that I will never forget. That team taught me to believe, trust, and commit to goals, even if they seem far-fetched at the time. Manti and Kap taught me how to approach my goals and demonstrated the effort that it takes to overcome obstacles and challenges. In short, diverse leadership works. There was no discrimination on our team, no double standards, and no other wedges that could have possible driven us a part. We saw each member of the team as a member of our family. There was a group of individuals from all over the world of all different ethnicities that were brought together to play football to the very best of our abilities and being ranked as the best team in the country and the number one overall defense is a tangible example that diverse leadership is necessary and it works.
-Tony
References:
Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Northouse, Peter. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: SAGE.
Williams, Jason. (2018). Pennsylvania State University. Lesson 13: Leadership and Diversity.