Leadership Lessons Listening To KD’s MVP Speech

NBA MVP Kevin Durant’s acceptation speech was nothing short of telling you some great lessons in how to be a great leader… When I go back and think about what was said, I saw much of what every leader should be doing.

Love of what you are doing: 

Why do you love what you are doing? Think about what makes you must excited about going to work everyday. Kevin talked about he knew that he loved going because of his teammates that help pushed him to be the best. For me, I love leading my team’s because watching them accomplish incredible results. Early on, I was an ace doer. I could get stuff done and done well. When I was given the chance at my first supervisor position, I was put in the middle. I was lucky enough that my new team were open to me and my ideas. They helped shape those ideas and I was off and in love with leading my teams.

Your Team:

You can not do this alone. I completely enjoyed the fact that Kevin called out each of his teammates that help push and motivate him to be the player that he is. It is so easy to think that you as the leader was the reason work gets done. Well, without the team – very little work will get done. Even the ace doer can’t get everything done. The team is a big reason for the success of the leader. For all of the past folks that were a member of my team’s they need to know that they all were a big part of what helped me become the leader that I am.

Your Customer’s and Supporter’s:

Without customers business would be tough. Without support and stakeholders, your individual work would be tough. It take a whole organization and customers to be truly successful. Not everything will go as planned, sometimes we fail to meet all expectations. Ensuring that we are doing everything that we can to make them successful will make us successful.

Kevin Durant’s speech reminded me that we need to be aware of the bigger picture. It is too easy to get lost in the day to day activities or any of the fires that can pop up. Stay humble! Keep your team, customers and stakeholders in your mind at all times. What do you have to lose?