HE IS RISEN!
What are the characteristics of a great leader?
I have spent the last few months writing about great people and football coaches. I have learned a lot from those guys. But, my ultimate role model for coaching never played a down of football and never carried a whistle.
I will acknowledge there are many different models for leadership. For me, the 10th chapter of John’s gospel is the best blueprint for the right leadership model and that ultimate leader is Jesus Christ.
When I was growing up, one of my dad’s books I read frequently was Wes Neal’s The Handbook on Coaching Perfection. The purpose of the book is to explain how Jesus would coach a team and how a Christian should coach a team. It seems hard to believe now, but when my dad was growing up, he asked my grandmother, is it possible to be a football coach and a Christian?
In 2014, there are over two billion Christians in the world. At the time of his crucifixion, Jesus had 11 living disciples. They were terrified.
How did 11 cowards grow into two billion people? They saw the living Christ after the crucifixion. But, it was a lot more than just that he rose from the dead, it was that he did it for them.
In the 10th chapter of John, it says the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. I don’t know about you, but I am compelled to follow leaders that put my best interest and the interest of others ahead of their own. Those leaders motivate me to give my all and to give my very best effort.
Self-centered leaders, and I have been around a bunch of them, usually motivate through fear and intimidation. And that can work, but usually only in the short term and often the end is a crash and burn. I can tell you this, it doesn’t work well with me or the guys I work with.
As a leader, it is great that you put your people first. But, the leader has to be competent and capable. Christianity falls apart if there is no resurrection. It would have meant that Jesus had great intentions, but that is where it would end.
But human leaders are not perfect. How is a human leader able to follow this model? Even a competent and capable leader will make a ton of mistakes.
Surprisingly, the Christ-like leader has a lot of freedom. That freedom comes from phrases like the following:
“I am sorry.”
“I was wrong.”
“Your way is better than my way.”
“You know more about this than I do.”
“I could have handled that better.”
I have had to say those phrases often over the past 22 years as a head coach. If you never say those things as a leader, you have no credibility.
Everyone that follows you know you are not perfect. To pretend otherwise is foolish.
I can follow someone who will admit when they are wrong. If they can’t do that or won’t do it, they are not a good leader and following them would be a poor decision.
In 1 John 4:19, it says, “We love each other because he loved us first.”
It reminds me of Coach Sharpe on that mountain in the summer of 1986. For your team to love each other, he said, “You love them first!”
Can you lead without loving the people you lead? You can. I have seen it done but I don’t believe it’s the best way.
I don’t think it is the route to go for sustained success. I don’t want to lead that way.
Chuck Smith, Larry French, Steele Harmon, Bill Arnsparger, Vince Lombardi, Blanton Collier, even my own dad have been great men, coaches and role models for me. The list is much longer but it wasn’t a guy in black shoes and white shoestrings that had the best blueprint for being a high school football coach.
It was ultimately a carpenter from Nazareth that knew what was best to do when there is a whistle hanging around your neck.
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