My 10-year-old son came out of his hour-long basketball practice red-faced and sweaty. He had worked hard.
But what he mentioned was the team on the next court over, whose coach had been loudly giving his team laps.
“My coach doesn’t give us laps. He’s really good at showing us how to do things, and doesn’t yell at us if we mess up. If I think back to all my coaches ever, he’s the best.” He went on to describe a past soccer coach who yelled a lot and gave the team many laps of the field during practices.
We can all choose the kind of leaders we can be, and it doesn’t take an adult to recognize a great leader. How we lead makes a profound difference in the experience of the people we are leading.