Leadership Matters: Who Cares?

How do you watch out for those around you who are in a losing season of life?

Fall is one of my favorite seasons of the year.  The season welcomes cooler temperatures, changing colors, and of course, the resurgence of college football.  On most Sunday mornings, I find myself engaging in football conversations with friends at church.  We sip coffee together and either celebrate, or lament, our teams’ performances the previous day.

Many of us have a college football team that we would identify as “our” team.  Some of us attended those schools, while others perhaps grew up in homes associated with those schools.  Consequently, fall weekends can become quite the emotional rollercoaster ride for us.  We watch our teams, cheer for our teams, and then we are emotionally impacted by the success or failure of those teams. 

While I have certainly fallen into that cycle for my team, I must also clarify that I have never fallen into that cycle for your team.  If my team is not doing well, I’m not doing well.  Their loss will feel like my loss, and it will likely prompt some frustration, disappointment, and even some armchair quarterbacking.  However, if your team loses, it will likely have zero emotional impact on me.  In fact, I don’t think I have ever gotten upset by your team’s loss. 

As leaders, we must be careful to not adopt this same kind mindset into our everyday thinking.  Perhaps it is acceptable to think like this in the kingdom of football, but it is not acceptable to think this way in the kingdom of God.  We cannot walk through our world with tunnel vision, solely focused on “our” own team.  Yes, we want to win at home, in our careers, and in our finances.  But we must also be concerned when others around us are clearly losing. 

We must be concerned when others around us are clearly losing.

Some around us are losing in their relationships.  Their marriages are a mess, or perhaps they are heartbroken about a rebellious child.  Some are losing in the arena of health.  They are struggling through sickness and concerned for the future.  Others are losing financially.  They are stressed about how they are going to provide for their family’s growing needs.  It does not take long to see that there are people around us every day who are experiencing loss.  This is why great leaders must care.

In the book of Nehemiah, we see an example of this.   Nehemiah was born in exile and served as the cupbearer to King Artaxerxes.  He held a position of influence and prestige in the king’s court.  For him to be in that position meant that he was cultured, educated, and likely carried great influence and trust.  Nehemiah was well taken care of and on a winning team by many standards.  Yet in chapter 1 we see that he also cared that others were losing around him.  His brother came to visit him in the king’s palace and gave him a heartbreaking report.  He explained to Nehemiah that the walls of Jerusalem were still in rubble nearly 150 years after Babylon burned them down.  Tens of thousands of exiles had returned to their homeland, but the glory of Jerusalem still had not been restored.

After hearing this report, we’re told: 

“As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven” (Nehemiah 1:4 ESV).

Nehemiah was broken over the fact that his people were losing in Jerusalem.  He began to grieve with them hundreds of miles away, and he started to pray and process how he could be of help. He could have easily turned his face from this report, but Nehemiah chose to leverage his own leadership and influence to help others who are in need.

True leaders care just like Nehemiah.  They don’t turn their eyes from bad reports.  They are not solely motivated by their own success, but they are driven to help others succeed around them.  

Nehemiah chose to leverage his own leadership and influence to help others who are in need.

How can you demonstrate that kind of care this week?  How can you maximize your own influence to help others who are enduring losing seasons? 

It could be as simple as:

• writing an encouragement note to someone who is in a tough season
• publicly praising someone in a staff meeting or checking in around the office
• praying for people in very specific ways, and then texting them to let them know

The reality is most leaders naturally win, but the best leaders care when others are losing.  How can you come alongside those who are enduring a tough season today?