The Simple Premise of Momentous Leadership

"If an opportunity to make a special moment for someone you have, do it, you must."

May the Fourth be with you, everyone! Today seemed like the perfect day to launch this journey into the unknown. While new and somewhat scary, it is also exciting and motivating. In a way, this is me listening to my own advice, creating a special moment as The Momentous Leader LLC is now alive and breathing. What began with a push from a friend (Thanks, Ed) has turned into a pet project that has quickly become bigger than anything I ever intended. Whether you are here checking out information on my upcoming book, Building the Empire, or just checking out what I am up to, thank you! Please join the email list to stay up to date on what I have going on, and please reach out with feedback, ideas, or questions as you read.

Without further ado, here's the simple premise that has become my leadership journey.

13 years ago, I sat in the football office at Dakota State University as a young coach who had just been given the task of serving as the Recruiting Coordinator for our football program. It was what I wanted, because I wanted to gain as much experience as possible as I started out my coaching career. Little did I know that title would be the greatest catalyst in my own leadership journey.

As I started researching other schools to create cost comparisons, creating different graphics, lining up tours and campus meetings for families, I started thinking about memories of my own recruiting. I had visited a few schools, and had different memories from each of them. Even 6 years after those visits, a few of them really stuck with me. I immediately remembered ones that made me feel invisible, as well as ones where I felt truly cared for. It was the personal attention, attention to detail, and being present that really stood out in what I remember most from my visits. I started brainstorming ways we could create memorable moments with the young men (and their families) we hosted on campus. I'd like to think we did a good job coming up with ways to make their visits special (and on a minimal budget). We challenged the status quo, did things differently, and sparked a turnaround over the next few years at DSU that resulte in recruiting some great athletes.

Over the past 10 years as a high school Head Coach, I've had the opportunity to sit in a lot of recruiting meetings with our players and college coaches. We've had small NAIA schools all the way up to Power 4 Head Coaches come through, and in many cases, it is easy to see who our kids would want to play for. Having the opportunity to be on both sides of those moments led to a full review early in my time in Pierre of the moments we were creating.

I owe a lot of credit to one story in particular over the past decade, the story of our Head of Analytics. I had become accustomed to using analytics in play-calling at DSU and enjoyed the system we had created. My first year in Pierre we were not able to use them. Then in Biology class I met JC. Without the work he ended up doing for us, we may not have experienced the success we did here. JC is a math savant, who also has autism. He was probably one of the last people in the world you would associate with football. JC and his father Keith agreed to help run these analytics for our team in my second year, and wouldn't you know? That year would kickstart what would become a 7-year reign as State Champions.

In terms of moments, JC was the first one in my time in Pierre I can clearly remember seeking to make happen. JC and Keith would work up in the booth and would travel separate from the team to games. The chaos of the sideline and the amount of people on each trip was too much for JC. About halfway through the season though, we started hatching a plan to have JC join the team for the full trip if we made the State Championship game. It became a calling card for our guys as they began to realize the difference he made.

One week late in that season, we nominated JC for the "Athlete of the Week" award at our school for the work he was doing, and he won! Seeing the pride in JC and his family for being recognized for his work only drove this thought further in my mind. You could clearly see how much that moment meant to them. It took roughly five minutes to do a write-up for his nomination. If five minutes of my time could end up making that kind of impact on someone, why wouldn't I do that every time I had the opportunity to do so?

There would be more moments with JC that year. Winning the title and seeing him run out onto the field to give me a high five, being in the team picture, being recognized specially at our welcome home ceremony, and even getting a Midco Magazine segment (video here -->) about his story, which I'm sure has inspired many!

Not just seeing these moments happen, but the profound impact they had on JC, reinforced the need to continue this practice. Through reflecting on some natural moments we had already been creating, and considering things we could naturally add in, this became a normal practice for us. I'm not sure when I started saying "if you have the opportunity to make a special moment for someone, do it," but I would guess it was around that time.

The years that followed saw more and more moments created. Not always big earth-shattering moments, but sometimes small simplistic ones that meant something to someone.

Without knowing it at the time, this was the moment that Momentous Leadership was born. There are many ways to discuss leadership. The best ones involve the leader serving those who he or she leads. Being a Momentous Leader is a version of Servant Leadership, in which the leader serves partially by creating special moments for those they serve. As things progress here on my Blog, and as details come out from my second book entitled Momentous Leadership, consider the moments you create in your life. Are there opportunities you overlook that could have made someone's day special?

Going forward consider what "Moments" you yourself can create for those you lead. Most importantly, be present and pay attention! Don't let these "Moment" opportunities pass you by!

PARTING THOUGHTS

• What is the most recent memorable moment I have created for someone, big or small?

• Have I let opportunities to make a moment for someone pass by? If so, why didn't I act?

• Is there a moment I can create (or help create) in the near future for someone?

PS...HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Sister Bonyafoka!