Today on the Servant Leadership Podcast we welcome Scott Sonju, longtime sports executive, leadership coach, and senior advisor. Scott grew up in the sports world — his father was the founding president and general manager of the Dallas Mavericks — and he has built his own remarkable career across professional baseball, rugby, and international sports. Scott led the Frisco RoughRiders for thirteen years, where more than one hundred and twenty-five players developed before going on to play for the Texas Rangers. He helped train the Chinese national baseball team, launched the Dallas Jackals in Major League Rugby, and today teaches sports sponsorship at SMU while coaching CEOs and executives across the country. In this conversation, Scott and I talk about how blind spots show up at the highest levels of organizations and what servant leadership really looks like when you have to make the hard call.
Timestamps:
00:00 Opening
00:12 Scott Sonju Intro
01:03 Welcome Scott Sonju
01:24 Scott's Journey - Growing Up In A Sports Family
02:51 Leaving Sports To Work At A Christian Camp
03:53 Early Lessons In Servant Leadership
06:19 Rest And Restoration
07:50 Jumping Back Into Sports
09:28 Creating An Amazing Fan Experience
11:12 Early Pitfalls
12:39 The Rangers' Business Model
14:15 Players Getting Called Up To The Majors
14:53 Servant Leadership - Leading Many Different Groups
17:48 Instilling Great Leadership Skills
19:39 Helping People Thrive Professionally And Personally
20:42 After The Minor Leagues
22:43 The First Chinese National Baseball Team
23:29 Launch Of The Dallas Jackals
24:36 Experience Leading In A Different Culture
27:24 Why The Shift To Rugby?
29:10 Influencers And Sports
31:01 Changing Times For College Athletes
33:29 Opportunities And Investments In College Sports
34:39 Back Into Consulting
37:02 Leadership Blindspots
39:05 Weaknesses vs. Blind Spots
41:54 360 Stakeholder Analysis
43:15 How Aware Are Leaders Today?
44:54 Overestimating Your Communication Skills
47:19 How Great Leaders Communicate Well
50:01 Lessons From Norm Sonju
51:45 As Tender As Possible, But As Firm As Necessary
53:33 Servant Leadership - Working Behind The Scenes
55:07 Servant Leadership - Being A Strong Leader
58:01 Ten Rapid-Fire Questions
1:01:50 Importance Of A Servant Leadership Podcast
1:02:45 Closing
Learn more about Scott and SNS Advisory:
https://www.snsadvisory.net/
Servant Leadership:
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Guest Intro Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
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