If any athlete was known for focus, it was Michael Jordan. In Jordan’s book, Driven from Within, Fred Whitfield, president and chief operating officer of the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats basketball team, tells a fascinating story about something Jordan did while getting ready to go out one evening. When Jordan asked if he could borrow a jacket from Whitfield, he found Whitfield’s closet was filled with both Nike and Puma products. The Nike outfits had been given to Whitfield because of his relationship with Jordan, who had a lucrative contract with the company.
Whitfield recalls that Jordan walked into the living room, laid all the Puma gear on the floor, and went into the kitchen to grab a butcher knife. When Jordan returned to the living room, he proceeded to cut all the Puma clothes to shreds. He then picked up the scraps and carried everything to the dumpster. Once Jordan came back inside, he turned to Fred and said, “Don’t ever let me see you in anything other than Nike. You can’t ride the fence!”
Wow! Some of you are probably thinking that Michael Jordan lost his mind. I mean, what does it really matter if you have Nike plus something else? Actually, it matters a lot if you are committed to excellence.
Jordan won six basketball championships for the Chicago Bulls because he didn’t ride the fence. Phil Jackson won eleven championships for the Bulls and Lakers because he didn’t ride the fence. It is true of Kobe Bryant with his five rings as well. All of them were committed to doing everything possible so they could help their team be the best in the world.
You can’t ride the fence about your marriage. It’s not a marriage (at least not a healthy one) if you are not committed to that one special person. You can’t ride the fence about your children, about your work, about your faith, nor about your life – not if you want to make it into something worthwhile.
Fence-riders think they are open to all sorts of possibilities, but the truth of it is, they are open to little except their own narrow perspective. Deciding not to decide is a decision. In all of history, no one became great by sitting on the fence – even Humpty Dumpty had a “great fall.”
One characteristic of Servant Leader is that they never “ride the fence.” They believe so strongly that the only style that influences others to greater productivity while maintaining human dignity is Servant Leadership. What makes people committed to the principles of Servant Leadership?
1. They have experienced the other styles of leadership
Most organizations, profit or non-profit, often maintain an active strategy to generate revenues without serious regard to the welfare of their staff. I know because I have been in the board of directors’ gatherings, the executive offices, and the conference rooms where bonuses are discussed, stock options are mentioned, and quarterly earnings manipulated without regard to the impact on the people that made it happen.
2. They have seen the beneficial results of Servant Leadership.
Servant Leadership, by its very nature, is designed to be transformational. That is, the one serving and the one served become better by the experience. Most people are simply satisfied with what attorneys call, “quid pro quo.” In layman’s terms, it simply means “you scratch my back, I will scratch yours.” In the short term, that kind of thinking works. But eventually, someone has a greater “itch” than you do and then we feel like we are being taken advantage of or the circumstances seem unfair. The organizations that are committed to servant leadership have not only seen better productivity but also happier employees. No self-serving promotional advertising here, it is just the facts! But you can’t say, “I will try it for awhile,” or “I’ll wait until someone starts it first.” It starts with you and it starts today. Only fence-sitters wait, and wait, and wait.
3. They know that changing themselves to Servant Leaders will always have an impact on changing others.
The first person I influence is me. The first I try to change is me. My standards for excellence need to be higher for myself that those I have set for others. It is called credibility. The fence sitter usually wants to change the world just like Lucy wanted to change the world in the Peanuts comic strip. When an overwhelmed Charlie Brown asks where she would start, her response is, “I would start with you, Charlie Brown. I would start with you.” Lucy just didn’t get it. Leading myself is the primary mission. Every credible survey I have seen about the most important trait for a leader always has this trait first or second. More than anything else, people want leaders whose beliefs and actions line up. Leading by example, modeling the IQ with the I Do is the way of the servant leader because they know it will always have a positive impact on their team.
Michael Jordan was a great basketball player, perhaps even the greatest. Even some of the NBA players, as a statement of respect, wear his shoes, carry his number, or wear his Nike clothes. Jordan never sat on the fence. So, my friends, don’t sit on the fence of life. You have to be fully in to be fully released to do what you were designed to do!
Dr. Tony Baron, Teaching Pastor
ShareThis
Print
