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Pat
Williams is the senior executive vice president of Orlando
Magic/RDV Sports, the National Basketball Association (NBA)
franchise in Orlando, Florida. Before assuming the reigns
of the Orlando Magic, Williams was the general manager of
the Philadelphia 76ers for 12 years, including the 1983 season
when they were NBA champs. Prior to that, he was general manager
for the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls. Williams is also
one of the nation's premier motivational speakers. Williams
has also authored a number of motivational books offering
inspiration and wit. Leader Links
editor Michael Duduit recently visited with Williams to discuss
the influence of his Christian faith on his work as a leader
of one of the nation's best known sports organizations.
Leader
Links: Are there some unique leadership challenges
that you've faced working in the field of professional athletics
that may be different than those faced by in some other fields?
Williams:
Oh, I don't think they're any different. Whether you're leading
a business group or a church or a sports team I think the
principles are all the same. Certainly in sports it may be
more visible, more monitored day by day — certainly in the
media every day. But I think the principles of leadership
are the same regardless of what field you are leading in.
Leader
Links: Tell me a little bit about how your
own Christian faith impacts your role and your relationships
as a leader within the Magic organization.
Williams:
I think my Christian faith goes with me wherever I go. Hopefully
it permeates every decision that I make. It affects every
relationship that I have. It permeates my thought process.
I don't think its something you compartmentalize; I think
its something you live out. I think it affects your world
view and obviously that then affects the way you lead people.
It's a 24/7 issue. I don't think you can leave your faith
at home three days a week and say I'm going to lead a different
way today than I am yesterday.
Basically
what we're doing as Christian leaders is trying to lead the
Jesus way. I wrote a book two years ago called The Paradox
of Power in which I talked about Jesus' leadership model
and how we can try and emulate all of that in everything we're
doing as leaders.
Leader
Links: I know that you're a participant in
the Lead Like Jesus events that are being done in various
cities. (visit www.LeadLikeJesus.com
for more information.) What are some of the leadership insights
you have gained out of your own Christian walk?
Williams:
I think the most important thing is that you've got to have
a real heart for people. Leadership would be pretty easy if
it wasn't for people. And to be a truly effective Christian
leader you've got to have a heart for people, you've got to
care for them. You've got to have empathy for people. You've
got to have an interest in other people, a curiosity about
other people.
I
see that on a regular basis here with the owner of our team,
Rich DeVos, a strong Christian businessman that co-founded
the Amway organization. Rich's Christian faith permeates everything
that he does. So I have a wonderful role model on a daily
basis in the life of Rich DeVos, a godly man who does not
apologize for his faith and it radiates through everything
that he does as a leader. That's a pretty good role model
to have.
Leader
Links: Given that the owner of your organization
is a committed Christian, are there some things that your
organization perhaps does differently than other organizations
in the NBA?
Williams:
Oh, I think so. It ultimately comes down to winning games
and selling tickets. That's why we all exist. But as a result
of the DeVos' ownership there's an intense caring for the
community, there's a desire to treat the employees, to treat
the athletes, treat the fan base in a kind way, a loving way
in a very rough, tough, mercurial business. I think it proves
that you can carry out Christian values and leadership principles
no matter what field you're leading in. In other words, it
works.
Leader
Links: Your employees are in a unique position
in that they're part of a very selective. Obviously only a
handful of people in the country qualify to play at the NBA
level. They're well paid. Are there some things that you have
to do differently in terms of leading those kinds of employees?
Williams:
I don't think so. They're still human beings. Granted they
have a lot of zero's on the end of their paychecks but they
still need direction, they need encouragement, they need to
be pushed at times, they need to be patted on the back at
times. Their emotions as human beings are no different than
any other people. Sometimes we have a tendency to tiptoe around
them a little too much, which I think is always a mistake.
They need to be dealt with forthrightly and directly and we
need to be very clear on what's expected of them as employees
of the team. I think that's what I've learned.
If
you treat them too tenderly or in different ways, that's where
you going to end up in trouble. They all have to be treated
the same, hard as that is, because if you start showing favor
to certain people on a team that can be very disruptive.
Leader
Links: As players become aware of your Christian
faith and that of the Magic's owner, how do they respond?
Williams:
I think they appreciate it very much when they see management
who care for them and go out of their way to encourage them
or speak a kind word to them in time of trouble, or when there
is anxiety to be there to offer counsel if necessary. I think
that makes a difference. I would say how could you be cynical
about that?
It
doesn't mean you have to preach every day and wave a Bible
under their nose every day but you lead as a Christian in
the way you treat people and the way you handle yourself,
deal with tough situations, and conduct yourself when the
pressure is on. I think that's really when your faith as a
leader comes out.
Leader
Links: You're widely known as a very gifted
motivational speaker. I'm curious what you would see as the
relationship between leadership and motivation.
Williams:
Lee Iacocca said leadership is nothing more than motivating
people. That's his definition of leadership. I think inspiration
and motivation go together and as leaders we have to be doing
both. Inspiration I think is more of an inside job — something
that you are trying to create within people that wells up
inside of them. Motivation may be more external where you're
trying to set up goals or strategies to get people to achieve
more. But in both areas it a big part of leadership and it
requires a very careful study of people. None of us are inspired
or motivated the same way. And the successful leaders really
study their people carefully and know what it is that inspires
them and knows what it takes to motivate them.
Leader
Links: One of the programs that you present
is on the "Seven Keys to Leadership in the 21st Century."
What do you think are the most important keys to being an
effective leader today?
Williams:
It starts with vision — the vision thing. Leadership is all
about the future and the vision — a leader with a vision is
looking down the road trying to see the future before it gets
here. And the second thing is communicating the vision. It
doesn't do much good to have a vision if you can't communicate
it. The third is people skills and we've been talking about
that. Four is character. Character counts in leadership, which
includes honestly, integrity, responsibility, humility, influence,
the number of the character traits that fall in there.
Five
is competence. Successful leaders are good at what they do.
They are constantly learning. They're working to improve as
leaders. They take the talents they have but never stop developing
them. Number six is boldness. Leadership is about making decisions
— you've got to make bold decisions. Then number seven is
a servant's heart. To be a seven-point leader you must have
a servant's heart. Understand that you're not there to dominate,
brow-beat, and crush people but really to serve them.
Leader
Links: If you had to pick out any one of those
to encourage Christian leaders to focusing on, which one stands
out?
Williams:
I think obviously it's the seventh one. I think that a lot
of leaders have the first six but tend to overlook or neglect
the seventh. Leadership is about others — not you. And what
can you do to serve others so that they can live to their
full potential. I think that really is what leadership comes
down to, and to have a servants heart is not a natural reaction
of a leader. In most cases with leadership it's about me but
a servant leader says, "No, it's about you."
With
Rich DeVos I get to see that all the time. I wrote a book
this past spring on Rich called How to Be Like Rich DeVos.
I did it with the Chicken Soup for the Soul publishers.
I did over four hundred interviews and so many of these people
said the same thing to me about Rich. Whenever you're with
him he always says, "Tell me about you." The billionaire
is asking the pauper: tell me about you. And he means it.
And when you tell him about you he listens, genuinely. That's
a good reminder about being a servant leader.
Leader
Links: Are there some other important things
you've learned about leadership from him?
Williams:
There's no question. I've learned a number of things. I've
learned about the importance of other people and the importance
of serving. And I've also learned that you can have the ultimate
success in life as Rich has — the highest levels of success
— and in the process you do not have to forsake your character.
You do not have to abandon your integrity. You do not have
to sacrifice your faith. You do not have to destroy your family.
To have the ultimate success you don't have to give up any
of that. Rich proves that. In other words you can have it
all. You can have the highest level of success, keep your
character, retain your faith, not forsake your values and
not abandon your family.
In
this day and age — particularly with young people coming
into the business — I think many of them feel I cannot make
it unless I'm cutting corners, unless I'm doing unethical
things, unless I'm cheating here, cheating there. Rich would
say, "You don't have to do any of that. Follow my example."
Leader
Links: What other things are you learning about
leadership these days?
Williams:
It's amazing to me that leadership has become an absolute
industry unto itself in our country. And I kind of think it
started about 12 years ago when Donald P. Phillips wrote a
book called Lincoln on Leadership. And then John Maxwell
came along and started writing on leadership. And now leadership
books are pouring out almost by the week. Hardly a week that
goes by that I don't get another mailing piece on a leadership
seminar, a leadership retreat, a leadership conference both
in and out of the church. I mean its just mind blowing to
me that there's this enormous surge and study of leadership.
I've just finished two years researching a book. It will be
out in very early January called Coaching Your Kids to
Be Leaders. I've done it with Warner Faith. I've done
well over 700 interviews with leaders from every walk of life
trying to figure out how do we develop the next generation
of leaders. So I'm caught up in the whole subject as well.
People
have got to realize the biggest issue with leadership is just
recognizing that you're a leader. So many people don't even
view themselves as leaders whereas every one of us is a leader.
If nothing else, leading ourselves. But certainly every husband
is a leader and every father is a leader, and every mother,
every grandparent, they are all in the leadership business,
to say nothing of youth sports and PTA, let alone big business
and all the other areas. We're all leaders. So I think the
big issue is just having people sit up and understand, "I'm
a leader whether I want to be or not."
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For more
information about any of these Pat Williams' books, click
on the title below:
The
Paradox of Power: A Transforming View of Leadership
How
to Be Like Rich DeVos: Succeeding with Integrity in Business
and Life
How
to Be Like Jesus: Lessons on Following in His Footsteps
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