Taylor Post Gets HuffPost Headline
I’m excited that my recent business-related post, The Five Things Great Leaders Must Do Very Well, nabbed the headline on the Huffington Post Small Businesses page.
Read MoreThe 5 Things Great Leaders Do Very Well
Leadership is one of the truly hot topics in the corporate world. Can you believe that there are more than 17,000 books on leadership available on Amazon? That statistic tells me that there are no clear answers on the best way to lead a company, organization, or team. Given that I work extensively in both the corporate and sports world, where effective leadership is essential, I wanted to share my perspective on what makes a great leader. Let’s start with where I stand on leadership. First, what is a leader? Your answer may include inspiring employees, having a strategic vision and plan, or knowing how to hire or delegate. All of these are necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for being a leader. But the purest definition of a leader I can offer is: someone with followers. Without them, there is no leader. I also want to add a rather heretical view of leadership: I don’t believe in leadership styles. We certainly hear plenty from all sorts of business gurus that this style or that is ideal. You hear about autocratic, democratic, collaborative, visionary, transactional, transformational, participative, laissez-faire, servant, the list goes on. I would argue, however, that talking about styles has little value because we are incapable of leading in a way that is inconsistent with who we are as people. However you lead, there are certain roles you must fulfill to be a successful leader of your team and to achieve the goals you have established for your business. I believe that leaders have five essential roles to fulfill to be effective.
Read More5 Lessons about Youth Sports from an Athletic Prodigy
Mikaela Shiffrin is, at only 18 years old, the top slalom ski racer in the world, the Olympic gold medalist in slalom in Sochi, and a veritable fount of lessons that athletes, coaches, and parents can learn from to help athletes achieve their competitive goals. After reading a profile of Mikaela in The New York Times recently (be sure to watch the videos in the article), I felt five more lessons crying out to be told. With all due respect to Dan Coyle (author of The Talent Code) and other recent authors, “10 years 10,000 hours” isn’t enough to achieve athletic greatness (BTW, here’s a great rebuttal to that argument). It is abundantly clear that much of what makes Mikaela exceptional can’t be taught. Early videos of her demonstrate a feel for the snow and a sense of balance that just isn’t trainable. I’m going to argue that Mikaela is just wired differently than us mere mortals. Of course, that inborn hard wiring wouldn’t have been enough to take her to the top of her sport without the drive that enabled her to put in the long hours of training to master the physical, technical, tactical, and mental aspects of ski racing.
Read MoreEducational Media? Yeah, Right.
As many of you know from my most recent parenting book, Raising Generation Tech: Prepare Your Children for a Media-fueled World, I’m not a big fan of screen time by children. In recent years, I’ve gotten push back from parents who say that their children learn a lot from so-called educational” media, whether TV shows, […]
Read MoreTaylor Radio Interview about Seattle’s QB and Confidence
I was interviewed by KIRO radio in Seattle the other day about the Seahawk’s quarterback, Russell Wilson, and how he was able to maintain his confidence and composure after fumbling on the first play of the NFC Championship game against San Francisco. In the interview, we also explore whether professional athletes are different from regular […]
Read MoreThree Ways to Raise Secure Children
One of the most important qualities you want to instill in your children is a deep sense of security in themselves and the world. There are three messages you want your children to get to nurture their developing sense of security. Others: There are people in my world who will protect me when needed. Self: […]
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