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Moving Forward One Step at a Time

Episode 01 - Leading With Integrity and Vision - Pat Williams

Rob talks with former Orlando Magic President Pat Williams about leadership, his years leading NBA teams, and what it looks like to be a leader with integrity and vision.

Episode 01 - Leading with Integrity and Vision - Pat Williams

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Pat has been a general manager with NBA teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Orlando, working with some of the greats—such as Dr. J, Grant Hill, Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal. Thirty of his teams have gone to the NBA playoffs, six have made it to the NBA Finals and his 76ers team won the NBA title in 1983.

From 1996 to 2011, Pat completed 58 marathons, including the Boston Marathon 13 times. In 2011, Pat was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, which is a form of blood cancer.  He has since won his cancer battle and is in complete remission.

And if that wasn’t enough, Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four foreign countries.  They also have 17 grandchildren…and counting!

Show Notes:

  • Integrity is not the same as honesty.

  • Integrity comes from the root word integer, which means one.

  • When you think of a person with integrity, there’s a consistency in their life. Their walk and talk match. There’s a unity to their life.

  • There are no minor lapses in integrity, you either practice it all the time – consistently - or you don’t.

  • Relationships across the board start with respect

    • Respect leads to trust

    • Trust leads to loyalty

    • Loyalty leads to love

    • Love leads to friendship

  • Visionaries: See farther down the road then the rest of us, see the finished product and then they simply walk backwards putting the pieces in place to turn that vision into a reality

  • “To grasp and hold a vision is the very essence of successful leadership” – President Ronald Reagan

  • Great leaders have visions but they also know how to communicate that vision

  • It’s one thing to have a vision, but if you can’t communicate it well, nothing’s going to happen to your vision

  • Four keys to communication: Be clear, concise, correct, consistent

  • The firewall is paying close attention to the Holy Spirit

    • John 14:16, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever

  • We can live a life well for 80 years and then do something really dumb or careless that crushes 80 years of right living in one moment

  • Until we breathe our last breath, we are always vulnerable to doing something that could be a catastrophe in our life

  • Seven things one must do to be a leader right and true:

    • Have vision that is strong and clear. Communicate so they can hear. Have people skills based in love, and character that’s far above. The competence to solve and teach. And boldness that has fearless reach. A serving heart that stands close by to help assist and edify.