Relationship Oriented Leadership

Blake, the new CEO at Olé, has a relationship-oriented style of leadership. He organizes the staff and makes sure things are getting done but when he asks people to get something done, he makes sure they’re not swamped or stressed about what they already have to do. He constantly gauges the morale around the academy and wants to have the best environment possible. He knows how to best work with Declan, too. He hears him out and allows Declan to make some of the big decisions, but has gained Declan’s respect enough to have good conversations when they disagree.

Since he’s become CEO, Blake has made it a much bigger priority to give the staff off-days when they need it. After a long few weeks, he sent everyone a message in the morning saying that afternoon training was cancelled and for everyone to enjoy their day-off. This was great considering the long days and hours and not having the weekends off (because that’s when all the games are for coaching, so although they’re lighter work days, they still require early mornings and not much time to do other things).

Blake is also very supportive. He has lots to do all the time but makes sure you know he will help with whatever you need if you need him. I was just talking to him this weekend and he said that the thing that differs most now that he’s CEO is the stress he feels that everything has to get done. When he was just an intern and then an employee, he knew someone would take care of what needed to be done. Now, he knows that it’s his responsibility to make sure it gets done. However, seeing him around, you would never know he stresses about that. He doesn’t make anyone feel the pressure that he must constantly be feeling. He demonstrates positive leadership with his relationship-based leadership style.