What type of leader do you want to be?

Popular media often provides us with the chance to view and compare leaders in their respective fields. Often times, we get to view these leaders as they deal with adverse circumstances. In doing so, we’ll make personal choices about what leadership styles are most effective. Would you want to work this person? Would you be willing to follow this person? How can you become a leader (Hint: look at those have succeeded and failed)? Remember that you can make anyone a manager, but you can’t always make someone a leader.

A great example of two contrasting styles of leadership was the recent professional football game between the Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks. The two teams battled it out for 75 minutes, all the way through the end of overtime, to tie in a final score of 6-6. What made this tie so notorious was not just the low score, but that the kickers for each team missed easy field goals (shorter than 30 yards) that would have won the games for their respective teams.

How did each coach handle what should have been a “gimme” kick and win? I’ll present the missed “gimme” kicks, and then the coaches’ reactions right after that. As these are NFL videos, only hyperlinks can be provided:

• Missed kicks: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/0ap3000000727018/Cardinals-and-Seahawks-miss-potential-game-winning-FGs
• Coach’s Reaction – Arizona Cardinals: http://www.nfl.com/videos/arizona-cardinals/0ap3000000727048/Arians-This-ain-t-high-school-baby-You-get-paid-to-make-it
• Coach’s Reaction – Seattle Seahawks (comments on the kick start at 0:51 in the video): http://www.nfl.com/videos/seattle-seahawks/0ap3000000727148/Seahawks-postgame-press-conference

More directly:

Bruce Arians:  “Make it. He’s a professional,” Arians said. “This ain’t high school. You get paid to make it.” (via ESPN)

Pete Carroll: “He has been making kicks for us for years,” Carroll said. “I love him, and he’s our guy.” (via ESPN)

Stark differences between two leaders in how they handle loss and adversity. Which person would you rather work for? Someone who shows a little compassion (yet still cares about results), or someone who is only focused on the end-result? What type of leader would you be? How you handle adversity, whether as a standard employee, manager, or senior executive, is key not only to success in your career, but in building relationships throughout your life.