Pat Williams, Co-founder and Senior Vice President of the Orlando Magic delivered the keynote address during Friday’s General Session at A4M’s 21st Annual World Congress in Orlando, April 12-13 at the Gaylord Palms Convention Center. Williams has presented to many different organizations and companies all over the country and is known for his motivational speeches about teamwork.
A silver-haired man donned in a Hawaiian shirt and khakis, Williams connected with conference attendees while sharing his knowledge of building a successful team. His humor and real life experiences kept the audience interested and learning how they can improve their own medical practices and organizations. At one point, Williams instructed the audience to stand up and fight the early morning fatigue by following his lead in a group warm up stretch.
When discussing what it takes to form a great team, Williams mentioned that it starts with a great leader. Throughout his speech, Williams quoted Presidents Truman and Reagan, Vince Lombardi, Rudy Giuliani, and Michael Jordan among many other extraordinary leaders.
“There has never been an outstanding team without an outstanding leader,” Williams said. He then continued to list the “7 Key Ingredients to Make a Great Leader.”
- Vision– Great leaders see further, and see before others. They see in Technicolor.
- Communication– Without communication, the vision won’t go anywhere.
- People Skills– Great leaders must have a heart for people, love people, and care for people.
- Character– 95% of someone’s performance breaks down to character.
- Competence– Teaching the rest of the team; teachers are lifelong learners.
- Boldness– Leaders make decisions based on analyzing and gathering information. There are no “mulligans or re-dos.”
- Have a Serving Heart– Good leaders know it’s not about themselves or their individual career but should be focused on advancing the team, group, organization, and other team members
After explaining the importance of a great leader, he stressed the importance of teamwork and the “7 Ingredients to an Outstanding Team”
- Talent– Every team is made up of talented players that were selected for a reason.
- Leadership– Great teams need a great example to follow.
- Commitment– Quality, excellence, enthusiasm, competitive nature define committed team members.
- Passion– Energy, zing, zest, zeal; “it takes 8 seconds to detect someone’s passion level.”
- “More We, Less Me” thinking– Pull together in a unified fashion; work for the best interest of the team.
- Empowerment– Work is not a playground, but a battlefield; “When great teams are empowered, magical things can happen.”
- Respect within Ranks– Respect leads to trust.
Pat Williams offered his upbeat attitude, personal experiences of working with a professional sports organization, and how parenting 19 children makes him truly an expert in running a great team.