"Skate to where the puck is going..."

I spent several years of my life in the city of Indianapolis, Indiana.  For those of you who don't know, Indianapolis is actually the state capital, the largest city in the state, and the 16th largest city (by population) in the United States (just behind Charlotte, NC and just ahead of San Francisco, CA).  When I was young, there was only one professional sports team that called Indianapolis home - the Indiana Pacers (the Indianapolis Colts were the Baltimore Colts until 1984).  We also had a World Hockey Association professional hockey team called the Indianapolis Racers from 1974-1978.  I do remember going to a few Racers games at Market Square Arena (which hosted both the Racers and the Pacers), but I will confess that I wasn't a huge hockey fan growing up.

The Racers weren't very good, and they certainly didn't last very long - the World Hockey Association actually folded in 1979, and only four teams (Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, Winnipeg Jets, and New England Whalers) joined the older and more well-established National Hockey League.  The Racers had a number of players that went on to have successful NHL careers, including Pat Stapleton, David Keon, Mark Messier, and most famously, Wayne Gretsky.  Gretsky was only seventeen years old when he played for the Racers, his first professional major league hockey team, and he only played eight games for the Racers (there is a rumor that he attended my high school's arch-rivals, Carmel High School while playing for the Racers, but I don't know whether that is true or not).  The Racers were losing money and simply could not afford Gretsky's contract (a seven year contract worth $1.75 million at the time).  Gretsky was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, where he played for most of his career.

Gretsky is widely considered the greatest hockey player of all time (his nickname is "The Great One").  He was never the strongest player or the largest player - he relied instead on unrivaled stamina, intelligence, and game-sense.  When asked why he was so much better than everyone else at hockey, he reportedly once said, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been."  

Gretzky captured nine Hart Trophies as the most valuable player, 10 Art Ross Trophies for the most points scored in a season, two Conn Smythe Trophies as playoff MVP, and five Lester B. Pearson Awards (now called the Ted Lindsay Award) for most outstanding player as judged by his peers. He led the NHL in goal-scoring five times and assists 16 times. He also won the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy for sportsmanship and performance five times, and often spoke out against fighting in hockey.  When he retired after the 1999 season, he was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, and his number (99) was retired league-wide.

While I like Gretzky's quote above and often use it ("Skate to where the puck is going"), what impresses me most was something he said later on.  Hockey fans used to think that Wayne Gretzky had a "sixth sense" or instinct that he was born with.  He disagrees, "It's all practice.  I got it from my Dad.  Nine out of ten people think it's instinct, and it isn't.  Nobody would ever say a doctor learned his profession by instinct; yet in my own way, I've put in almost as much time studying hockey as a medical student puts in studying medicine."  In other words, Gretzky learned to play the game that he loved to play in a way far better than anyone else ever has or likely ever will, by hard work, practice, and a commitment to studying the game.

I've said it over and over again - great leaders are not born, they are made through study, practice, and good old fashioned hard work.  If you want to be a great leader, read and learn about other great leaders.  If you want to be a great leader, practice your craft.  Great leaders critically self-evaluate every leadership decision they make so that they learn from their successes, as well as their mistakes.  Take advantage of every opportunity to get feedback from those who you lead, from your peers, from your mentors, and from the leaders that you yourself follow.  Leadership is a skill that can only be improved through practice, practice, practice.

It is true that great leaders - like great hockey players - skate to where the puck is going.  But what is also true is that they achieve that level of intuition, vision, and perceptivity through hard work, dedication, commitment, and practice.