20 years of leadership lessons
Niklas Sundberg
Chief Digital Officer (CDO) & SVP at Kuehne+Nagel | ex-Gartner | Author | Sustainable/Green IT advocate | Purpose driven leader | CISSP
March 17th, 2001 is a very special day in my heart and today it marks the 20 year anniversary of us winning the NCAA National Championship with Plattsburgh State.
As I have moved on in life and progressed into a professional career within Information Technology I think it is interesting to reflect on the leadership lessons that I learnt 20 years ago still apply today and how I still practice them today:
? Passion - if you don't have a sense of purpose or you don't know why your are doing it. Find another passion.
? Commitment - Once you find your passion, you need to commit to the journey all out. Embarking on a challenging journey is never a straight arrow and you need to find a way to overcome the challenges when they present themselves. Don't Lose sight of your Goal!
? Team - Don't surround yourself with the best people, but the right people. Successful teams gels together because everyone on the team knows their role and has bought into the long term goal that we will achieve more as a team rather as an individual.
? Lead by example - Nothing in life is for free and if you want to make things happen everything starts with yourself. It is not a coincidence that we had a quote painted on the wall in our lockerroom at Plattsburgh State: "If it is up to be, it is up to me!"
For us back in 2001, we shared a common passion for ice hockey and our ultimate goal by the end of the season was to hoist the NCCA National Championship trophy. Coming in to the 2001, season we knew we had a great team and ticked all the boxes to be a National Championship contender and along with a very seasoned and dedicated coaching staff in Robert Emery, Kevin Houle, Stephen Moffat & John Wells.
We started out the season great with a 7-0 perfect record before we hit a slump that carried on for a number of months before we finally found a way to turn things around and we rushed on to finish the season with a 14-0 record.
We definately did not have the best 22 players on the team, but we had the right people where everyone had a role to play and they bought into process and long term goal.
Finally, we had a number of key individuals that lead by example day in and day out. Leadership is not assigned it is earned and it comes in various shapes and forms.
Forever grateful for being part of such a fantastic group. A true band of brothers. Thank you Press Republican for the reprint and Kerry Britt for pulling us together once more and allow us to relive the moment.
Link to interview: https://vimeo.com/524686872?ref=fb-share&fbclid=IwAR0ySLcEkouIuLeypSN-h47TzRxZEQGqkj6I17xQww22tEdbNZ9tpOESSh0
We create Power BI analytics dashboards. CEO at Cobit Solutions
2 年well said!
Great choice Niklas, either you are passionate or not, the rest will be easy????
Transformation Director
3 年Without a team, there is no delivery/outcome. Without leadership, there is no team. High performing teams deliver, which is what you successfully achieved. Congratulations!
SAP Project Management Consultant
3 年Nice one Niklas !
Founder and CEO of OSR Manage- Outsource Sales Management and Sales Consulting for the IT Industry. Founder and President of Sales MaturIT.
3 年That was an amazing year and one of the things that I've always drawn from is the leadership in the locker room. It was pivotal and something that was truly a life lesson for me as I've grown professionally. There was no doubt before that game that we were leaving as national champs. Of course, having you in net didn't hurt either ??