Steve Nash was inducted into the Hoops Hall of Fame last week. He is my favourite basketball player of all time and he’ll go down in history as a transcendent innovator of the sport in spite of never making it to the NBA Finals. There’s a lot to learn about leadership from Steve Nash, such as how uncannily at ease he is with change or his ability to remain emotionally balanced. I want to focus on what we can learn about leading others from how he played. Here are three leadership lessons from how Steve Nash played basketball.
Be a pioneer
Steve Nash and his Phoenix Suns coach, Mike D’Antoni, co-created the modern NBA. Before they wowed crowds and overwhelmed opponents with the seven-seconds-or-less offense, the NBA over-emphasized the individual, one-on-one play of superstars and celebrated grinding, shot-clock-chewing basketball. Here’s what The Ringer’s Danny Chau has to say about Nash’s impact on the modern game:
To watch him in his prime was to watch glimmers of 2018 transposed onto the fractured landscape of the mid-aughts. He’s the nexus of the past 15 years of basketball.
Today, most teams – especially the almost-dynasty Golden State Warriors – model their style of play after what Nash pioneered over a decade ago. Revisionist history makes his two MVP trophies even more legitimate, as his influence on the game resonates as powerfully as ever as another season is about to begin.
Bringing the flow of soccer to his game was one of the many things that made Steve Nash a pioneer of space-and-pace basketball. In the world of work, disruption is rampant and organizations, both big and small, feel more chaotic than they ever have. Within this tumultuous business climate, pioneering leaders are the ones who make their community feel comfortable with being uncomfortable and in control amidst the chaos. Just like Steve Nash and his wild, wavy hair were aware of everything on the court all the time – and if things changed, he adapted and sped on to the next task.
Be a giver
As point-guards go, few have put their teammates ahead of themselves more than Steve Nash did. He ascended to greatness because of how well he helped others realize their potential. My favourite thing about basketball is how, when played excellently, it’s such a perfect team sport. When the ball zips around the court and everyone gets a lot of touches the result is a higher level of engagement – not just on offense, but on the defense end and through intangible hustle plays. From the fundamental to the flashy, Steve Nash got others involved in ways few point guards ever have.
Adam Grant has made giving socially academically and professionally cool. Just like with Nash’s Suns teams, the more that organizations focus on mentoring, networking and peer-to-peer sharing and helping, the more successful their performance. Grant credits Dr. Richard Little with the idea that the mindset behind this phenomenon is called “Pronoia: the delusional belief that other people are plotting your well-being”. Steve Nash created pronoia on the basketball court by being one of the NBA’s greatest givers.
Be hyper-efficient and super-skilled
In addition to being an incredible distributor of basketballs, Steve Nash was also one of the greatest shooters in NBA history. During his prime, Nash was a member of the 50/40/90 club, which means that he made over half his shots from the field (not bad for a 6’3” dude), over 42% of his three-point shots, and over 90% of his free-throws. Needless to say, he wasn’t just a great passer, but also an incredibly skilled shooter of basketballs who added value on the court with a dynamic blend of production and efficiency.
Efficient people have a plan, know how to delegate and are really good at staying focused. According to Inc’s Kevin Daum, efficient people block time for tasks and stick to the schedule:
Try logging your time on conversations and activities for a week. Then spend the next week setting specific times for similar activities and work to reduce the times with similar output. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at the gains.
Your tasks and schedule might not measure up to a seven-seconds-or-less approach, but we can’t all work like Hall of Famer Steve Nash hooped.
Photo Credit: Micheal Peterson Flickr via Compfight cc
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This article was originally published on September 12, 2018.