Leadership
by Doug Reese TTNL
Florida State University's Bobby Bowden is a national leader in the game of football. Bowden has led the Seminols to an unprecented 11 straight finishes among the Associated Press Top Four, and recorded 11 consecutive season of winning 10 or more games.
Certainly his legions of All-Americans, his record of success and coast-to-coast popularity attest to one fact - Bobby Bowden is a leader who became a legend in the game of college football.
Bowden will quickly tell you that, "I love to take a group of young men in the late summer and mold them into a team." Bowden does that "molding" by his leadership.

Bowden is a coach with a rock-solid character and firm principles. Bowden brings to Florida State University a proud moral leadership, a family man of high integrity, a caring disciplinarian, and a calming voice in the face of adversity. But what Coach Bowden means to FSU off the field maybe is more important: respect, sincerity, class, charism, and humor. Wrapped up in one word, it's his LEADERSHIP. This is the word that describe the man better than wins, records and championships.

Athletic Principle
"Contary to the opinion of many people, leaders are not born. Leaders are made, and they are made by effort and hard work." Vince Lombardi - NFL Hall of Fame Coach, World Champion Green Bay Packers
What do we mean when we use the word leadership? If we were to ask how to define it in one single word, the word would be influence. President Harry Truman often referred to leaders as people who can get others to do what they don't want to do - and make them like doing it.

Leadership holds some distinct characteristics:
  • capacity to rally others
  • focus on a common purpose
  • inspire confidence
  • give direction
  • possess vision
  • dominant purpose
  • strength of conviction
Leaders are generally the hardest workers on a team. They are the first to come to practice and the last ones to leave. During practice they lead by example, not by their words. Leaders know the team's goals, and know what needs to be accomplished. They realize that practice is the key to future victory.

Real leaders hate to lose more than they enjoy winning. They are always willing to pay a price. Their work ethic and their attitude becomes contagious. Leaders are individuals who know where they are going, and that is generally where the team wants to go: to the victory stand, the rest of the team will follow.

Being a leader is a tough and demanding job. Sometimes the pressure falls only on their shoulders. When you invest much, then there is a lot at stake. Most team leaders will tell you that the rewards are worth the risk. Any leader realizes that you can't do it alone - that is what team is all about.
God's Performance Principle

Bobby Bowden is more than a leader on the gridiron, but in the game of life. During the hectic football season, Bowden uses valuable time for team devotionals, which he leads. As for his ongoing leadership within his football coaching staff, each day he meets with his coaches for prayer and devotions prior to their regular staff meetings.

Each year, Bowden takes his entire team to a predominately black church for worship. The following Sunday, he takes the team to a predominately white church. "I'm trying to show these kids that they are accepted in church whether they are white or black," says Bowden.

Bowden is a leader who walks the walk of faith. "I want to show these kids that you can be a Christian, you can be a God-fearing man, you can abide by the rules, and you still can be successfull," comments Coach Bowden.

Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:13, "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." In a world where good leaders are needed, Jesus says, "Lead us not..." Jesus makes the statement not so much because we do not need good leadership, but because good leadership skills are not as nearly important as in the direction in which the leader is leading. An athlete or coach with great skills in leadership, that lead others astray is perhaps the most destructive leader of all.

Jesus went on to say "Deliver us..." The prayer that Jesus taught us to pray would not simply have us lead, but rather help us deliver those we serve.
  • Deliver those from the distractions of the world.
  • Deliver those from compromise.
  • Deliver those from the hands of the evil one, and lead them to salvation in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps God has put you in a place of leadership on your team. If He has, ask yourself at this very moment, where are you leading those who are following you?

Remember that in addition to leading, it is just as important that you demonstrate deliverance - deliverance from the influences of the world that might keep you and your teammates and coaches who are following you, from God.
"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here am I, send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)
Copyright (c) 2000, 2001, TTNL Reprinted with permission