Tom Brady's crazy belief

You don’t have to like Tom Brady to appreciate hisstory.  Just before Brady was picked asthe 199^th pick in the NFL draft, he went for a teary-eyed walk with hismom and dad, wondering why he had been passed over, once again in this, the sporthe loved.  He was looked over in Highschool, and twice in college, losing out to other quarterbacks.  Six quarterbacks were taken before Brady in 2000: Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, MarcBulger and Spergon Wynn.  

Who even remembers Giovanni Carmazzi?

When Brady met Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots, he shookhis hand and asked if he knew who he was. Kraft said, sure, you’re our 6^th round draft pick.  Brady looked him in the eye and said, “I’mthe best decision this organization has ever made.”  Now while it may strike you as arrogant for askinny, gangly, 4^th string rookie quarterback to say this to theowner of a proud franchise, it also happened to be true.

But only Tom Brady believed it.

For the next years, Brady dedicated himself to being thebest QB he could, and prepared as if he could be called in at any moment.  Most New England fans had never heard of himthe day he finally got called in to rescue injured Drew Bledsoe, and the rest ofcourse, is history.  In a couple weeksBrady will be playing for his 4^th super bowl ring. 

His story makes me ask a few questions about my ownlife.  First: do I believe in the greatnessof the God given calling on my life?  Also:am I preparing myself in such a way as to be prepared for whatever comes next?  And, do I care too much about who others think I am, rather than who God has made me to be?

How about you?

Contagious leadership

In just one basketball game, my 11 year old son learned apowerful leadership lesson that I did not know when I was twice his age.

The score was, um, ...notgood.    The morale of our team was…low. People were playing defense like they just found out their favoritechildhood pet just died.  Energy, effort,teamwork…all by the way side.  It was notlooking good for the Thunder. 

My son was a little discouraged because coach decided tostart him off the bench, something he hasn’t done in years, in this, hisfavorite sport.  I must admit, I was abit surprised myself.  But I told him togo out and be aggressive, to play his hardest, and he will be surprised with the results.  He agreed. And he really poured it on.  He checked his ego at the door and playedlike he was in the NBA finals. 

We lost.

But along the way an interesting thing happened.  His team was inspired by his attitude and effort.  They started playing defense and even made afew baskets.  Their voices were louderand they began to high-five at mid court. Someone gave my son a pat on the back. They were in this game! 

Leadership is contagious. It rubs off.  It leaks.  Your attitude, effort and heart will inspirethose around you.  And it doesn’t matterif you are “coming off the bench” either, as leadership is never from thetop-down, it’s always bottom-up.  It’snot about the role or title you’ve been given, it’s always about simply...leading.  

One secret to leadership

I do not fashion myself a great leader. But there is at least one secret to leadership that I have learned in life. The strange thing is, although I have never read it in any leadership book, nor heard about it at any conference, it is most certainly a game changer.

It is simply this: do not fear anyone. So many of us live in fear of someone else. What will they think? Will they hate my idea? What if it doesn’t work? What will people say? What does my boss/spouse/friend/co-worker feel about me?

When one becomes a slave to these kinds of thoughts, he or she cannot lead in any capacity. Take a silly example. Your friends and you are at blockbuster video. None of you can figure out what video to rent. The reason? Simple. No one wants to pick a movie that everyone hates. It is fear of what others will think. Or maybe you are in a staff meeting at your job. You have an idea that will make a difference, but you hold back because of fear. On and on you could go with these kind of examples. Many times the difference between leadership and followership comes from a direct fear of others.

So who are you afraid of? Say the names out loud. Then ask yourself, why am I afraid of them? Then pray to God and ask him to take the fear away. He will most certainly do it! You will be amazed at the freedom this brings in your life!

For a really good blog on leadership, check out my friend Brian’s blog here.