Being on the roster is not the same as being in the game
Posted by Kevin Harper | Posted in Men's Leadership | Posted on 12-09-2009
Tags: baseball, family, machiavellian, servant-leadership
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The leader who never asserts his authority has none. That’s not to say that leaders should exercise authority arbitrarily, just for the purpose of maintaining power or control. That is a manipulative strategy of Machiavellian tyrants, not Christlike servant-leaders.
Nevertheless, a leader can’t be a wallflower, never speaking up when it’s his turn to set the pace or direction for those who look up to him. Who is he pretending to lead if he has no influence when the chips are down?
When you think about it, everyone has influence. The question is, do we recognize it and use it for good? Consequently, there’s no such thing as the absence of leadership, only the absence of positive leadership. Leadership, like nature, abhors a vacuum.
To put it into sports terms, if we fail to step up to the plate when it’s our turn at bat, we are actually walking away from our responsibility and our team. Wow, what a concept. Maybe that will get us off the couch and into the game.
What a disgrace it would be in a ball game for a hitter to sit paralyzed on the bench out of fear or laziness when it’s his turn at bat. Sure, someone will step in and take his place. The pitch will go to someone, but it won’t be him. The game will go on, but no thanks to the would-be hitter.
If his inaction is a disgrace to his team and to his career, how much more of a disgrace it is when we sit out the areas of life that actually matter–like providing godly leadership to our families when they need it. Now there’s a fast-pitch worth trying to hit out of the park!
We are all leaders in some respect, from the dad who desperately needs to be respected by his family, coworkers, or employees, but is instead relegated to irrelevance by his inaction, to the mom who desperately needs her kids to listen to her when she speaks, but instead feels like she’s talking through–or to–a massive concrete wall.
The course of action in both situations is to take action. Speak with authority, don’t walk away from it. Step up to the plate and be the one in front taking the fast-pitch for the team. Being on the roster is not the same as being in the game.
