Praising the One Who Passes the Ball: How Real Leaders Make Others Win

On the soccer field today, I’m amazed at my daughter’s passing skills. She’s been working so hard to pass the ball. 

The parents cheer from the sidelines not just for the one who makes the goal, but also for the one who passes to the shooter. 

I just love it!  

Last month, my husband told me about a basketball team who pointed and cheered and celebrated the one who passed to the shooter.  Once a basket was scored, the whole team pointed to the one who passed the ball, not the one who scored. 

And last night, as my husband leads a meeting, he tells the students that his job is “to make them a success.”

There’s something so right and good about being the one who makes others achieve success.  All year, I’ve been learning about my platform, my influence, and my marketing.  What if I stopped everything and asked myself who I could make a success instead?  What if I stopped trying to make a name for myself and helped others reach their goals?

I need a cultural correction;  real leaders make others look great, not themselves.  

I remember that the apostle Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 3:8 about his work the following mystery:  “Now we really live because you are standing firm in the Lord.”

I want to be the kind of woman who gives her life away to make others stand firm.  I want to make others achieve success. 

Then, like Paul, I might say I really lived. 

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Don’t you just love a team when the players cheer for the one who passed?