Leadership Conf. w/ Tony Dungy

Craig Groeschel: Your leadership style is very different and one word that defines your style is mentoring.

• When he was young, his dad told him that his job as a teacher was to help people get As.
• His coach later told him that his job was to help his player play better.
• He saw his role as helping.
• Leadership is all about helping those that you lead.

Typically, the coach is the authoritative figure who uses fear as a motivator.

• He tried to develop relationships and help his players understand that he was there for them.
• He was initially criticized for being too soft.
• He believed that if the players would believe he was really there for them that a bond would form that would lead to them succeeding and their team leading.

What about when that style isn’t working?

• Stubbornness is a virtue if you are right.
• Persist, stick with what you believe.

You can work yourself into the ground, how do you live with life balance?

• Football and winning aren’t everything. Family life and spiritual life is everything.
• I didn’t want to burn my assistants to the ground.
• He tried to schedule time for them to have sufficient family time.
• If people are doing well at home they will do better at work.

What would you do as a mentor to help people understand life balance?

• I’d show you what I’m doing.
• Be efficient.
• Don’t waste time.
• Don’t mistake hours for productivity.
• We can be more efficient if we work hard in the time we allot.

What do you do if you’re looking for a mentor?

• We have to be available for people to mentor.
• When God has blessed us we have to share it.
• When you are looking, look for people you admire.
• Mentoring can happen at a distance.
• A 30-second conversation from a mentor can change your life.

Who were people you’ve learned from?

• He watched Tom Landry from afar.
• Mentors don’t always have to be icons.
• They can be people around you that are just slightly ahead of where you are in your life.
• You can mentor someone from any level.

The word mentoring intimates people. It sounds formal. What does mentoring look like practically?

• It’s incumbent on the person who is mentoring… discovering what people need, their stories, etc.
• The person being mentoring has to be forward to express what they need.
• The mentor shouldn’t be the one always asking questions.
• Mentoring is a process of building trust.
• Informal is much more powerful than formal.

What was one of the most life-changing moments of your life?

• He was going to quit his football team his senior year of high school.
• His coach encouraged him to stick with it.
• Why would you ever let anyone stop you from doing something you enjoy?
• Don’t allow others perception of who you are determine who you will be.

No matter where you are in life, one word can be life-changing.

• The biggest thrill you get in mentoring is seeing people developing and growing.
• His biggest thrill wasn’t winning the SuperBowl, it was seeing his players becoming better people.

If you want to mentor or invest in someone, what type of person should you look to invest in?

• We have to be intentional to reach out to the young people in our communities.
• They are young people everywhere looking for mentors.

Do you see yourself going back into coaching?

• He sees himself working more with young people and investing in their lives.

Out of everybody who has been a mentor/role model, who was most important?

• His parents and many others, but Jesus Christ was the most important.
• He’s been the best mentor and leader I’ve had.

Who is Christ to you? What has He done?

• What would it profit a man to gain the world and lose his soul?
• Christ came to give us a relationship with God and show us a way to live.
• Nothing can take away from my relationship with Christ.