Baton Rouge Native Anthony Kimble First Learned Leadership from Football

In our Leadership Journeys series, we’re profiling Baton Rouge-area leaders. We’re sharing where local leaders find inspiration and what decisions they’ve made on their leadership journey.When Anthony Kimble went to Stanford University, he started as a redshirt freshman on the school’s football team. Then suddenly, upperclassmen were looking up to him as a leader.“That taught me one thing — you never know when your time is going to come up,” he says. “You never know when it’s going to be your time, and you have to be ready when your name is called.”Kimble was caught off guard and didn’t think he was ready to be a leader, but he was eager to try new things and grow into the role. “It’s the same in the business world — you have to be willing to learn and put in the work,” he says.That’s a lesson Kimble has used to build his career, first in marketing and PR, where he leveraged his football connections to get into sports marketing. Then in 2013, he decided to move back home to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he eventually followed his parents into real estate management. Beginning this year, he’s gone full steam ahead into real estate, investing in and redeveloping properties.

Leadership Lessons from College Football

Kimble’s Stanford football career provided him with a fast, effective introduction to what it means to be a leader. He spent time paying careful attention to other players he looked up to, noting their work ethic and how they talked to coaches and other players. One of the lessons he learned as a young leader is that you sometimes have to ask others for what you need.“You can’t expect them to bestow knowledge on you,” he says. “You have to be willing to go outside of the norm to get yourself in a position where you’re able to lead and teach those looking up to you.”At the same time, Kimble says he’s learned that effective leaders don’t set themselves apart from the group. It’s important that leaders pay attention to and understand what others are going through so they can build a stronger connection with your team members. “They may see something you don’t. It’s always good to set your authority of a leader, but those you are leading need to know that their opinions count too.”

An Early Start in Real Estate

Kimble says his parents were among his strongest role models growing up. As an only child, he’s very close to them, and they often included him in discussions about their work in real estate. “My parents had to work for everything they accomplished, and they helped me to understand the real world and what was out there,” he says.His father’s best friend, an Army Ranger, was also involved in real estate and worked with Kimble when he expressed an interest in pursuing a career outside of sports marketing. “He’s a guy who I’ve seen have a lot of success, and then made a couple of bad decisions and then build himself up again and worked hard to accomplish great things,” Kimble says. “He’s taught me that you have ups and downs, that there are peaks and valleys.”Moving into real estate was a challenge, Kimble says. In marketing, he had been working with high-level, established organizations. In real estate, he’s had to be willing to take more risks to get his name out there. “Not having a lot of experience in real estate, I had to go out on my own and prove myself. You have to believe in yourself first before others believe in you.”Kimble also worked with the Glen Davis Foundation, an organization he helped start several years ago, to launch a reading center at the Carver Library in South Baton Rouge. He also coaches a couple of youth basketball teams. Being ready for when his name is called has paid off for Kimble so far, and he says he’s excited to see what’s next.Looking for ways to build leaders at your organization? We can help!Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.