Battle-tested principles in the art of leadership

Dual AFL premiership player and two-time all-Australian Harry Taylor revealed some of the keys to Geelong’s success in a Future Leaders address at the MBA Display Centre.

Taylor is a vice-captain and member of the Cats leadership group.

He also played as a junior for Northampton and Rovers in the GNFL and was school captain at Geraldton Grammar School, where he completed secondary school.

The Geelong formula revolves around having clear goals and values – and good leaders who live those values and challenge others to do the same.

He said values were central to the entire process – leadership selection, recruitment, discipline and player development.

Values and vision

From the start of each season, player leaders were chosen in a peer selection process aimed at identifying those who consistently lived out club values and behaviours.

The player leadership group then met weekly to assess how the team could improve, identifying players who deserved praise, who needed encouragement or who might be struggling.

Feedback between the player leadership group and the coaching staff was encouraged – whether it be direct or sensitive.

“We are very player-driven, ” Taylor said.

“Leadership is very important. If the leadership is bad it can affect the group in a very negative way.

“We always challenge each other, as a group and a team.”

Lessons from Ike

Taylor said he liked former US president Dwight Eisenhower’s take on leadership as the “art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it”.

“It applies to how we go about getting others to do things, ” Taylor said.

“If, for example, I want a player to work on improving his marking skills, his drive is going to have a bigger effect than me yelling at him all the time.”

He identified three styles of leadership – authoritative, participative and delegative – and said all three were important, tailored to the needs of different personalities and situations.

“For example, Andrew Mackie has more of a caring style and will, say, invite you out for a coffee to talk about an issue, while Sel (Joel Selwood) is more direct, ” he said.

“It’s important to have a good mix of leaders because it helps us all achieve.”

Honesty

Relationships, communication and honesty were key leadership traits, along with recognising how environments required different communication.

“(Coach) Chris Scott is a good example of honesty in leadership when he has to tell a player he is not playing, ” he said.

“He tells the player clearly, ’You’re not playing for this reason’.”

Players were also engaged in the process, sometimes having a player sit in a chair in front of them for peer assessment.

“It can be very confronting. I’ve seen men shaking in the chair, but it’s effective, ” he said.

Honesty was also displayed in leading by example, work ethic and doing the little things right when noone else was watching.

“An example is younger players doing their prehab without being told. That’s a good trait, ” he said.

“When I see them doing that I get excited because I think these are the younger guys who could be our next group of leaders coming through.”

Perseverance

Perseverance was another key leadership trait – to believe in your team, business or brand and to fight for it.

“I like what (US baseball legend) Babe Ruth said: ’It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up’, ” he said.

“It rubs off on your team and sets the right example.

“It doesn’t matter if your plan is wrong. Never give up.

“It’s good for sport and business and general life.”

Taylor said good examples of this trait were former premiership captains Tom Harley and Cameron Ling – with current skipper Selwood exceptional in this regard.

“He is the best – leading by example and just sticking at it and never giving up, ” he said.

Good conflict

Conflict in the organisation was welcomed, provided it was about aligning people with the group’s values and goals.

“Conflict is an area where noone likes to go, but we actually encourage it, ” he said.

“Provided that it’s about engaging for the right reason – addressing values and behaviours, and not personally attacking you.

“We usually react better to it that way.”

He said accountability was encouraged across the group, using the example of a younger player who once chided Ling for doing less than the required number of repetitions of chin ups during a training session.

“Lingy went right off, but came back later and said ’you did exactly the right thing – that’s what we want you to do’, ” Taylor said.

“Conflict is uncomfortable but you’ve got to get over that so the relationship can be stronger.”

Personalities

Taylor said avoiding personality clashes in a group required the maturity to recognise people had different views.

“Some of the people playing are poles apart from each other as individuals and would not normally come together in life – but it’s the common interest, for example, desire to win a flag – that brings them together, ” he said.

“We don’t ask people to like everyone, but we do ask them to respect each other, ” he said.

Organisations with a healthy culture also had buy-in from their staff.

He said that partly explained why there was an apparent seamless transition when Chris Scott took over from former coach Mark Thompson.

“The culture was already owned by the players, ” he said.

Recruit wisely

Taylor said values-driven organisations put values first and recruited people who fit those values – not the other way around.

“(Former Geelong president) Frank Costa was good at recognising that when he recruited Brian Cook as chief executive, ” Taylor said.

He also used Chris Scott as an example of the club recruiting someone who believed in the culture.

“Scotty also did a smart thing when he came in and said ’you don’t need to change much; just need to tidy up a few things’, ” Taylor said.

“That got the older boys on side quickly – and they are a group who either love you or hate you.”

“It was an amazing thing that he did, and it showed Scotty had bought into the culture.”

Mentors

On his leadership mentors, Taylor, a student of war history, said he drew inspiration from figures such as American parachutist Dick Winters, whose exploits were the subject of the TV series Band of Brothers.

“I believe adversity can bring out our best, ” Taylor said.

“In terms of real-life mentors, I would include Cameron Ling and Tom Harley, for setting the right example.”