Strength In Character
During the Passover season, we retell the story of our ancestors’ fight to escape from bondage. As the story goes, Moses was minding his own business, tending to his sheep, when he heard his name echoing through the hillside. The voice, it appeared, was coming from a bush that was engulfed in flame without being consumed. This was his call to leadership. Of course, we don’t all get called to our roles as leaders in such grandiose ways.
Moses was asked to stand up in front of the (metaphorical) room and be the voice of his community. This is a very important form of leadership, though certainly not the only form. Each of us is called to leadership in different ways, and being a leader looks different for each of us. Not everyone leads from the front of the room or the top of the leaderboard. Some of us lead from the middle of the group, some from the side, and others step up by stepping back.
In sports, as in life, the greatest leaders are not always the ones with the most media attention or with the most friends on Insta. A recent article about Clippers guard Lou Williams talks about his indispensable role within his team, as a player who has come off the bench for most of his career. He shared that he understood that he was not meant to be the top-scoring player, always in the limelight. His strength was his ability to step into any position on the court and be a rock for his team. He showed true leadership and strength of character by helping his team, the fans, and the world see the importance of knowing yourself and your value. By stepping back from the limelight, he was able to step up into his true role as a leader.*
Leadership may look different to each one of you. But one thing is clear: each of you has the capacity to lead, and each of you is Strong in Character!
* Lou Williams has twice won the 6th Man of the Year Award and is now the all-time leader in bench scoring.
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