Leading High Performers: The Ultimate Guide to Being a Fast, Fluid, and Flexible Leader

by Eric Snow

Overview

Basketball demands a level of leadership that can consistently create teams with both personal responsibility and the autonomy to make split-second decisions in incredibly high-stakes situations.  Does this sound familiar?  Well it should this is the current environment for corporate, political, nonprofit, and educational leadership!   

 In LEADING HIGH PERFORMERS, Snow develops his experience on the court into a formula to help corporate and organizational leaders understand how to get their high performers, MVP’s, and top new recruits to perform better and follow their leadership.  Because like basketball players today’s organization leaders must be “fast, fluid, and flexible” to be successful, these new times, demand new leaders.  

 Throughout the book, Snow examines the most crucial aspects of leadership development, including:

 The secrets of self-confidence

The keys to powerful communication

Tips for managing conflict

 And…

 Methods of obtaining peak performance from yourself and those around you Snow also frequently breaks away from his own lessons to bring readers the thoughts on leadership of

some of the high-profile coaches and teammates throughout his college and pro careers, including Larry Brown, LeBron James, Tom Izzo, Allen Iverson, Nate McMillan and Jud Heathcote. 

 Snow understands what it is like to be the new guy on the team, thrust into leadership the first day on the job and charged with leading legends of the game. It’s not as simple as pointing in the right direction and expecting everyone to follow with a high-five and no ulterior motives. High performers have high expectations, high skill levels and high egos that must be catered to rather than ignored. It can be a job within a job leading these rock stars to winning results and woe to those who are unprepared.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781600377181
Publisher:	Morgan James Publishing
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Pages:	192
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

When it comes to NBA players (or professional athletes in general) and their outside activities, few can be labeled with the term "community ambassador" better than current Cleveland Cavaliers co-captain and NBA veteran Eric Snow. Now officially retired after his 14th NBA season (the 4th with his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers) , Eric is serving as an analyst for Turner Sports’ NBATV.  He has been one of the league's models of consistency both on and off the court.
 
With a career that has included three trips to the NBA Finals (1996, 2001, & 2007) the former Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year and second round pick from Michigan State University has seen it all and done it all. Recognized as a winner on nearly every team he has ever played on, Eric Snow is one of the few players in the league who can be called a true team leader.
 
While he has never possessed the gaudy statistics needed to be regularly mentioned among the league’s elite point guards by television commentators, Eric Snow has played with and has had incredible success against many of the best NBA players. And when a few of those who were his teammates or opponents are eventually inducted into the Pro Basketball Hall of Fame (like Gary Payton, Allen Iverson, and LeBron James), each of them will say without hesitation that it was the assists from Eric Snow on and off the court that helped make their success possible.

 Of course, long before Eric became an NBA star and public figure, he was receiving special attention for his leadership. As a senior at Michigan State University, he was presented with the Chester Brewer Leadership Award, which noted both his athletic as well as his academic achievements along his strong record of exemplary character and leadership. He was one of only four Spartan basketball players ever recognized with this honor in the university’s long and distinguished history.  

However, it was through his stunning display of courage as co-captain of the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2000–01 NBA Finals that the league and communities throughout the nation began to associate the name “Eric Snow” with toughness, determination, and leadership. The next season, Snow was asked by the NBA to join then-Philadelphia mayor John Street as host and spokesperson during the 2002 All-Star game hosted in that city.  Later, Eric was elected vice president of the NBA Players Association (NBPA), a post he has held for the past five seasons.

In addition to receiving the NBA Sportsmanship Award and Joe Dumars Trophy (he was previously runner-up two times in the voting), Eric was joined in San Antonio, Texas by other notable public figures including Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs, and multi-platinum country recording group "Lone Star" to accept a National Fatherhood Award issued by the National Fatherhood Initiative. He was also recognized with major grassroots Fatherhood Awards by two high-profile Philadelphia area organizations (the Father's Day Rally Committee and Fathers Go Get Your Sons & Daughters, Inc.), each of which has an impressive history of providing positive programs for fathers in the Philadelphia, Camden, Atlantic City, and southern New Jersey communities.

In his first season in Cleveland (2004–05), Eric was recognized with the Alfred J. Lerner Community Award, the city’s top honor for a public figure or athlete who demonstrates an outstanding commitment to community service. He won the honor again in 2006–07, along with his second NBA Community Assist Award (the David Robinson Plaque) for his continued work in Cleveland supporting local fathers and children as well as opening the new Eric Snow Reading and Learning Center in his hometown of Canton, Ohio. His peers recognized him during the 2005 NBA Weekend Gala in Denver, Colorado with the league’s Community Contribution Award (an honor given to only 5 of the 450 NBA players), and in April of 2005, Eric received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, presented annually by the Professional Basketball Writers Association.  The award, named for the league’s second commissioner, is the oldest citizenship and community service award in the NBA. It is generally regarded nationally as the NBA’s highest honor for service and has a recipient list that includes NBA greats such as Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Julius “Dr. J.” Erving, Joe Dumars, Dikembe Mutombo, and Reggie Miller. Eric Snow is the second Cavalier to win the award (Austin Carr won it in 1979–80) and the third Michigan State alumnus to be honored with the award (Magic Johnson received it in 1991–92, and it was given to Steve Smith, now a pro basketball analyst for NBATV alongside Snow, in 1997–98).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements v

Foreword Ambassador Andrew Young 1

Introduction 5

Part 1 Running the Point - A Revolution in Leadership 13

Chapter 1 New Times Demand New Leaders 15

Chapter 2 Leadership Myths 25

Chapter 3 Leaders are More Than Managers 33

Chapter 4 Discovering Your Leadership Style 47

Part 2 Leading from the Inside Out 69

Chapter 5 The Secret Ingredient to Leadership: Self-Confidence 71

Chapter 6 Leaders Recognize the Power of the Team 81

Chapter 7 Becoming a Highly Effective Leader in Today's REAL World 95

Chapter 8 Your Best Defense 105

Part 3 Creating High-Performing Teams 121

Chapter 9 Sharing Your Vision with Your Team 123

Chapter 10 Leading Constructively 133

Chapter 11 Managing Conflict 147

Chapter 12 Peak Performance 153

Epilogue: Leading Among Giants Starts Now 171

Afterword Bishop Eddie L. Long 173

Author Bio Eric Snow 177

Editorial Reviews

I have known Eric Snow for over 14 years. He was a great leader both on and off the basketball court and has proven those skills have transferred to life after basketball. I call this book Shaq-tastic and you will too!” - Shaquille O’Neal, 3 Time NBA Finals MVP

 

 

 

"The leadership model that Eric Snow represents is vital – not only to sports leadership, but to family leadership and to teaching in schools; it’s key to managing a sales or manufacturing force, and it’s one of the magic ingredients that has been necessary throughout world history to affect social change and create social victories.” - Ambassador Andrew Young

 

From the Publisher