April 29, 2024 - TRUE LEADERSHIP/COACHING SUCCESS

A few days ago, I was a guest on a podcast and was asked how I define SUCCESS in leadership/ministry… the context had me thinking of my role with InBounds, and with many conversations I have had recently with church leaders, PLUS our planning for our young adult Training Camps.

TRUE LEADERSHIP/COACHING SUCCESS is only attainable through SUCCESSION! In the coaching world it would be called developing a coaching tree… this is where you have assistant coaches that sit the bench with you and thus end up trained to move into a head coaching chair… (maybe even the one you are sitting in when the time comes!)

I’m going to sound like a schoolteacher here for a moment but let’s look closely at these words:

SUCCESS: the accomplishment of an aim or purpose

…ION: suffix denoting action or result of something… the idea of being the state of something…

SUCCESSION: the most popular view of this word is the action of inheriting a title or position… BUT there is another part of the definition… From Oxford Languages: a number of people or things sharing a specified characteristic and following one after the other.

So, my view of SUCCESS is not built on a game or even a season, but on a culture of SUCCESSION over time of developing other coaches to take the lead and develop other coaches… (In the work world it is a simple process of apprenticeship!)

I do believe my view of success in leadership is according to The Playbook (Biblically sound.)

1^st and 2^nd Timothy are pastoral epistles that he wrote to Timothy. He shares throughout his letters to Timothy what it looks like to have success as a church leader. First, we need to know the relationship between Paul and Timothy… it is one of apprenticeship… Timothy was a part of Paul’s coaching tree. In Acts 16 we see where Paul purposed for Timothy to join him on his journey… he intentionally put Timothy in his coaching tree! In his first letter to Timothy he called him a “true son in the faith” (1:2)

In the letters to Timothy Paul warns Timothy of tough times and describes what SUCCESSful leadership looks like in these tough times. And in 2 Timothy 2 he gives a very clear SUCCESSION template.

2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, COMMIT these to FAITHFUL men WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH OTHERS ALSO.

COMMIT: The idea of entrusting it to someone… literally to DEPOSIT THE KNOWLEDGE into someone…

FAITHFUL: this carries the idea of those that have shown they can be relied upon… it is those that follow through with the execution of plans given…

WHO WILL BE ABLE TO TEACH OTHERS ALSO: so the plans are then to reproduce in those that will reproduce!

Are you in leadership of some sort? If so, do you want SUCCESS? Then according to The Playbook, you need to identify and pour into your “Timothys”!

TRUE LEADERSHIP/COACHING SUCCESS is not confined to just a moment but is demonstrated in a movement… a SUCCESSION!

April 22, 2024 - FLAT TRIANGLE... HELP!

What’s the first rule of “DEFENSE”? Well when I was still coaching, mine was simple, “STOP THE BALL!” In any defensive scheme, players are given coverage responsibilities and are required to shut down the man or area to which they are assigned. Yet the reality of a game is that at times players find themselves out of position, or maybe just overmatched by the opposing player…giving the opposition an edge… or a lane to get to their goal.

Most view strong defense to be based upon strong individual effort. BUT I believe great defense, like great offense, is based upon strong team effort!

Way back when I was a young player, I started hearing coaches explain how to be a good man-to-man defender. It involved things such as staying low… taking away the opponent’s strengths… how/when to go for steals… etc. When guarding a guy without the ball, I was taught how to be in a position to deny the pass to my guy… if I were 1-pass away I was instructed to be in a deny-position, where I was up on my guy with an arm in the passing lane… careful to not let my guy cut behind me. If my guy was 2-passes away from the ball (farther distance), I was taught to be in a “HELP POSITION,” which my coaches called “FLAT TRIANGLE.”

“FLAT TRAINGLE” simply meant I needed to be in a position to see man and ball… I should always see my responsibility, and also always see where the ball is, in case my teammate got beat and I needed to help. “FLAT TRIANGLE” was named that because this positioning required me to be positioned between point A (my man) and B (the ball) in a way to see both, resulting in a shortened triangular position. And since the first rule of defense is to stop the ball, at times I had to leave my assigned responsibility to stop the player with the ball… after all, the only guy in the guy that can ever score, is the guy with the ball!

But what happens if I stop the ball and the opposing player then passes to the guy I was originally covering? Well, as mentioned, defense is a team effort… one of my other teammates that was in a help position would then need to step over on the guy that got the ball. And during this time, the original teammate that got beat has time to recover to a position to hep the team.

“FLAT TRAINGLE” is also simply referred to as “HELP DEFENSE!”

1 Corinthians 10:32 tells us “GIVE NO OFFENSE…” Is there a better call for strong defense?

Yet we must understand that our “opponent’s” offense is not trying score at a particular goal, but the goal is to break us down… the word OFFENSE here deals with the idea of leading me and/or my teammates into sin. So how do we shut down this offense?

One way is playing in a “FLAT TRIANGLE” where we are aware of not just ourselves but also our teammates… where we are willing play “HELP DEFENSE” to pick up a brother/sister…

1 Corinthians 10:24 Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well being. The word SEEK which Paul uses here involves a strong definition of an individual demanding something from someone or craving individual needs… it is a me-first instead of team-first mentality.

WE MUST LEARN TO PLAY TEAM DEFENSE… where we are aware of man (my personal responsibility) and ball (my teammate's responsibility)… and we must be willing to step over and help!

April 15, 2024 - "A Badge of Honor" - I think not!

In 2007 a new product hit the athletic market in America… yet it was initially a product that was “earned” by a group that had risen to the top of their game… the product was introduced in Las Vegas to the US National Team for hoops… it included Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Jason Kidd, etc. The product was Nike ELITE socks, and Nike would quickly get their design department to work to provide an opportunity for the general public to purchase these socks… and even customize them to their own liking… I can remember young players strutting in with their new socks on, as though gong to a store and spending money made them a great basketball player…

I have probably written about these socks in the past on these weekly Game Plans, yet I saw an article written from a design/advertising perspective (DesignBloom) talking about the rise of popularity in these socks all over the globe, and what they represent, and I quote, “the logo is a badge of honor of the court…”  

Well, the coach in me gets a bit fired up… you don’t purchase elite status, you earn it! ELITE status should be the result of ELITE accomplishment via ELITE work… The reality is that I can purchase and wear a pair of Nike ELITE socks, but it sure won’t get me a place on Team USA… THEY ARE NOT A “BADGE OF HONOR,” anyone can buy them!!!

I know this weekly Game Plan is based upon the very fact that our standing in Christ, our place on the team, is by grace alone… through faith alone… in Christ alone! It is a free gift we could not earn!

Titus 3:5-6 not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us… whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior.

Note: our ELITE standing is a result of the ELITE accomplishment and work done by Jesus. HE EARNED IT FOR US!!! Therefore, I cannot boast! (See Ephesians 2:8-9)

Then, once on the team, I think it is important that we remember that “wearing those ELITE socks, involves a challenge:

Titus 3:8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, THAT THOSE WHO HAVE BELIEVED in God SHOULD be careful to MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS. THESE THINGS ARE GOOD AND PROFITABLE TO MEN.

We are commanded to not flaunt our position on the team, but to make sure we are a good teammate!!! Throughout the Playbook (The Word) we are told to, out of our gratitude, be FAITHFUL!

April 8, 2024 - You Can Always Hear A Good Team

“You can always HEAR a good team. The bad teams… you never hear. They don’t ever talk. They don’t talk to each other. They don’t talk on defense. They don’t talk in transition.”

Kelvin Sampson Coach University of Houston Men’s Basketball

I love this observation by Coach Sampson… over and over again I have written about the importance of “one another” --- of a TEAM-mentality. Coach shares a picture of players that care about one another is… So, what does this TEAM-talk sound like?

The obvious thought is one of encouragement. Over and over we see the commands to encourage one another… and the obvious thought there is to be cheerleaders for one another. Yes, that is a part of it, but it is so much more…

Hebrews 10:25 tells us that we should be “exhorting/encouraging one another, and SO MUCH MORE as you see the Day approaching.” In other words, when the intensity, when the intensity of the game ramps up, it is even more imperative that we “talk”!

I appreciate that the NKJV uses the word “exhorting” – as the Greek word “Parakaleo” carries with it way more than just cheerleading. Of course, we want to give positive encouragement, but it should also involve other aspects like instructing and teaching… even comforting when needed. It is the ultimate TEAM-word.

What Coach Sampson was talking about is a good team always being aware of and caring about where one another is… it may involve a player on the free throw lane making sure it is clear who is boxing out the shooter… it may involve a player on the baseball field making sure teammates know how many outs there are in order to know what to do if the ball comes to them… it  may involve pointing out what defense the opposing team is in… it may simply be a player letting a teammate know he is in position to be a help defender… or it may be as simple as reminding the player to forget the last play and win the next… to get his head in the game.

I long to be part of a TEAM/community that communicates… one that not only tells me when I do good… but encourages me when I mess up… and reminds me of where and what I am supposed to be doing.

That passage in Hebrews also has a different Greek word that is used in the description of what our TEAM should look/sound like… “Paroxusmos” … it is found in verse 24 when we are told that TEAM-talk should “stir up love and good works…” To stir up also is translated in some versions as the word “stimulate.” It carries the idea of inciting or even irritating. We should be pushing one another!

One obvious way to determine if a player is doing well for his team, is to see that he understands and executes the plays the team is running; if a player goes on the floor and continues to run to the wrong goal, it is a pretty good indicator he is either playing for the other team -OR- that he has forgotten he’s on a new team… but in 1 John 3:10 we see another way to identify being a poor teammate: “he who does not love his brother.” It goes on to give an example of Cain not loving his brother Abel. And I find it interesting that when God confronted Cain about his brother’s whereabouts, he responds with the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9)

In 1 John the comparison brings a clear answer to that question… YES, we should be aware of our brother/teammate. It is such a clear passage on what a good team looks/sounds like: “And this is the commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ [gets us on the team] and love one another. [fulfills our TEAM-mentality]” (1 John 3: 23)

April 1, 2024 - Gotta Get Touches! (Preparation and Productivity)

Gotta get touches!

Confidence… a required ingredient to success! So how do you build confidence? My answer is this happens through a combination of Preparation (Study) and Productivity (Engaged/Competitive/Hardworking) and Passion (Endurance and Single-mindedness)!

As I am typing this Game Plan, I am realizing that there is way more info here than I have time for in the huddle… so let me try to give a synopsis…

Often times in sports and life, we have a disproportionate approach to Preparation or to Productivity. If a player only spends time studying the playbook, he will be knowledgeable but not skillful; if he only spends time playing, he may end up skillful but not knowledgeable…

In our Christian walk, there is often an emphasis on study… and we often consider the classroom to be the answer to success. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the study is a necessity… how can you play the game well, run the right routes, if you don’t know the rules or the plays? But Productivity is a measure of how much output is taking place as a result of the input. One cannot be productive unless he is in the game and trying to make plays!

2 Timothy 2:15 demands that we be “diligent” in our work (productivity) by “rightly dividing the word of truth.” Some translations say, “accurately handling the word of truth.” The Greek there carries the idea of cutting straight… running the right routes! But the diligent part involves the idea of not just knowing but doing! In the verse we are called to be a “worker who does not need to be ashamed” not a learner… the shame seems to be if one is not working OR is not making running right routes 

Earlier in the discourse (vss. 3-6), there are a few keys to Productivity…

·       Endure: having a passion for the game that causes one to keep going in spite of the circumstances

·       Engaged: actively involved (you gotta get touches)

·       Single-minded (not Entangled): prioritizing

·       Competes: you gotta be in the game to be productive and gain confidence (you can’t measure output if there is not playing time)

·       Hardworking: you get out of something what you put into it… if you haven’t invested much, it is easy to ignore or walk away.

So many truths here… my Game Plan challenge this week is to keep Preparing BUT to get Producing… you gotta get in the game to build confidence… you gotta get some touches!