If you’re like me, your Facebook, Twitter and Google Buzz accounts have been inundated with 2010 FIFA World Cup madness since the June 11^th opening ceremony. Status updates like “If it aint Dutch it aint much” have consumed my social network realty for quite some time. And I have to be honest -- I haven’t put much stock in this year’s competition and can’t confidently give you a play-by-play of what has been going on. I did, however, come across an interesting article on the subject that provoked me to learn a little more about the teams and the great impact the sport has had on our nation. Dubbed “the most watched TV event ever,” I figured there had to be something I was missing.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter’s recent blog post, “World Cup Leadership Lessons,” is a perfect example of how leaders exist under a variety of platforms and have the ability to thrive in a variety of settings. “As a leadership groupie,” she says, “I watch for lessons about the circumstances behind the action, the factors that propel any organization to victory.”

Her lessons for leaders are as follows:

Your job is to provide resources and support that build the confidence of players in themselves, each other, the team, and the excellence of the surrounding system. Ethics, fair play, mentoring, smooth transitions, continuity, and collaboration should not be luxuries or lip service; they create the margin of victory.

The post provides some highlights of the games and details on what a few of the epic sports moments meant to Kanter herself.

Some leadership highlights:

Fair, transparent, collaborative = winning.

Corrupt, chaotic, petty = losing.

Success is derived from not just the talents of individuals but the context surrounding them.

Keeping these thoughts in mind, what leadership lessons will you practice over the summer months that take you out of the office and into your everyday lives?

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Kanter’s full blog post can be found here:

http://blogs.hbr.org/kanter/2010/07/world-cup-leadership-lessons.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29