You don’t have to be a CEO to be a leader.
Leadership is a choice. You don’t have to have a CEO or VP or some high level title to be a leader. You just have to DO. Leaders take action and empower and inspire the people around them to as well. With the sports industry being so competitive, establishing yourself as a leader is a great way to differentiate yourself from your peers.
Leaders make the people around them better. They are the ones willing to do the tasks no one else wants to do. A great leader takes initiative and isn’t afraid of failure. They chase the opportunity and put themselves on the line.
Just because you are an intern doesn’t mean you can’t be a leader. It’s actually one of the best times to showcase your leadership skills. One way to do this is by developing trust with everyone in the office and with your fellow interns.
Some other ways you can demonstrate leadership is by paying attention to the details, actively listening, and offering to help. You can create a proposal for a special ticket sales opportunity. You can write up a scouting report on a player that you think might be worth the agency or team taking a look at. You can ask to attend every meeting to learn more and offer to take notes for your supervisor.
Next time you are in your internship ask yourself these questions:
· Are you the person everyone in the office trusts?
· Are you the person all the other interns look to?
· Are you the one helping everyone in the office to make the whole team better?
As an intern you might be asked to do things you don’t want to do. You might be asked to pick up coffee or go grocery shopping. Even though it is pointless and probably not going to help you become an agent or GM, how you respond to these tasks will show a lot about your character.
As Alan Stein Jr. would say, “you have to be willing to pay your dues. You need to get rid of all thoughts of entitlement and switch that to another E word, which is earn. You need to earn your stripes.”
This couldn’t be more true during an internship. Check your ego at the door and do whatever you have to do to earn a full-time offer.
Great leaders will take every task, no matter how big or small, and do it to the best of their ability. They won’t complain but rather see how they can do it better. They will set an example for the other interns and employees in the company.
Whether you are finishing up an internship right now or thinking about applying for one in the fall/winter/summer, think about how you can be a leader and how you can make the company and the people you work with have a better experience because of you.
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