Kobe Bryant posts about leadership on FaceBook

Kobe Bryant has been accused of being a bad teammate for his behavior by Smush Parker, who Bryant said was a bad teammate because he sucked. In response, Bryant has posted on FaceBook a brief message about leadership. It is one of the most Bryant things you’ll read, even if his publicist team likely wrote it.

Leadership is responsibility.

There comes a point when one must make a decision. Are YOU willing to do what it takes to push the right buttons to elevate those around you? If the answer is YES, are you willing to push the right buttons even if it means being perceived as the villain? Here’s where the true responsibility of being a leader lies. Sometimes you must prioritize the success of the team ahead of how your own image is perceived. The ability to elevate those around you is more than simply sharing the ball or making teammates feel a certain level of comfort. It’s pushing them to find their inner beast, even if they end up resenting you for it at the time.

I’d rather be perceived as a winner than a good teammate. I wish they both went hand in hand all the time but that’s just not reality. I have nothing in common with lazy people who blame others for their lack of success. Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.

This is my way. It might not be right for YOU but all I can do is share my thoughts. It’s on YOU to figure out which leadership style suits you best.

Will check back in with you soon.. Till then

Mamba out

via Leadership is….

Now, let’s compare that to a fictional leader who was criticized for his unpopular decisions.

Col. Jessep: *You want answers?*

Kaffee: *I want the truth!*

Col. Jessep: *You can’t handle the truth!*

[pauses]

Col. Jessep: Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

via A Few Good Men (1992) – Memorable quotes.

Sound familiar?

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Look, there are two ways most will look at it. You can look at it from a “the ends justify the means” perspective, which always works out great in our society, and note that Bryant’s way has won five more rings than a lot of great players ever won. He’s a winning winner who wins, and everyone else just doesn’t understand his devotion to winning. The FaceBook post above was his way of saying “Yes, I’m a bad teammate, because my team needs to be a bad teammate, and in that, way, I’m a good teammate.”

Most people who have played with Bryant avoid the subject like the plague. They’ll usually just say “He’s so competitive, that’s great to be around and I learned a lot.” And Bryant has taken players under his wing before. But there are small moments in print, here and there, that largely reinforce what Parker said about Bryant, even if they didn’t react as negatively. And yet, those players wouldn’t want to give up their championship rings. It’s just what worked out.

The other way to look at it is that Bryant’s a bad teammate. He just is. He’s too critical, too domineering, sets his standards too high with an itchy trigger finger on his gavel of judgment. But he’s so good as a basketball player that how he is as a teammate doesn’t hold the team back. He’s not going to lift a bad team, like the 2006 Lakers, but he’s going to raise a good team to greatness, like the 2010 team.

If you think being a player who contributes the most to winning a championship inherently makes you a good teammate. If you believe that being a great teammate isn’t a part of being great, he can not be a great teammate.

Nothing will change the fact that he has five rings, is in good shape to tie Jordan at six, and is one of the best NBA players of all time. Being nice has no part of that description.

Additionally, not for nothing, but Bryant’s line of thinking is eerily similar to how a supervillain justifies his actions when he’s threatening to blow up the world. Just saying.