A New Restaurant

Think about the organizations and groups you’ve been a part of.  Is the true leader always the most noticeable person in the group?  Sometimes they are; they’re charismatic, thrive in the spotlight, and people love them.  But that’s not always the case.

My son plays soccer.  There is one young man on the team who is very vocal.  He spends the game telling his teammates what they should do, where they should play the ball, and what mistakes they just made.  He yells, and tries to vocally intimidate his teammates while on the field.

The second young man decided that he deserved to be the team captain, so he stepped up and started playing the part of leader.  He called the team together to start practices, and lead the team in warm-ups and stretches, but when it came time to practice he was more interested in socializing with his fellow seniors.

There is another young man on the team that doesn’t say a whole lot.  When it’s time to practice, he buckles down and practices hard.  Come game time, he plays hard.  He his on-field communication is more game related (ie. Calling for the ball, pointing out open spaces, etc.), and it is always encouraging.

While the first player has a good knowledge of the game, and what he yells to his teammates is often correct, when it came time to select captains, guess who was chosen?  That’s right, the quiet encourager.

While player #1 had the knowledge of the game, he didn’t have the kind of care for his teammates that makes for a good leader.  He was more interested in giving orders than he was about building his teammates up.  Everything he said on the field reinforced the fact that he felt his teammates would never measure up to his standards.

Player #2 merely played the part of leader.  He wanted the prestige that came from being able to say he was the team captain.  When he was passed over for the title, he lost all interest in trying to build his team up.  He began coming to practice late, and was more interested in having fun than he was in being a good teammate.

Player #3 was the true leader, and rightly deserved the role of team captain.  His attitude, work ethic, and humility made him the perfect choice.  He was even a little surprised that the honor was given to him.  He certainly wasn’t working toward that as a goal.  If one of the other players had been given the role, Player #3 would have continued on like he always had, and title or not, he would have stood out as the true team leader.