Leadership is getting someone to do what they don’t want to do
to achieve what they want to achieve.
Tom Landry
Thanksgiving has been known for many traditions. Not the least of which, unfortunately, may be that there is football on Thanksgiving. The Dallas Cowboys have played on Thanksgiving Day since 1966 and that my friend is a tradition.
I grew up and became a Steelers fan in my teen years. They were awesome in the 1970s. The Cowboys weren’t bad either. But the best thing to be said of the Cowboys in those days was their coach – Tom Landry.
There have been some amazing coaches in pro football. John Madden, Vince Lombardi, Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy are only a few of the great coaches that have walked the chalk on the sidelines. But, beyond their ability to instruct and motivate with Xs and Os, consider for a moment one of the key tasks of the football coach as the leader of the team. He must get his guys to do that which is tough and tiring in order to achieve the thing that they all really want – winning the Super Bowl.
What is the point on Fatherhood Friday on the day after the Cowboys beat the Raiders 31 to 24?
It is to remind you that it is our job as fathers to get our families to do those things that they sometimes don’t want to do in order for the family to succeed and give life to new families and more winning traditions.
Ralph Nader (who to the best of my knowledge doesn’t know anything about football, went on to say, “The function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers.” Inadequate leaders just create followers. But truly great leaders produce more leaders.
And the point for for you fathers today is to remind you that the hallmark of a great father is to produce great children, who then become great parents, who then produce great children.
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I never met Tom Landry, but he was an influence on my life growing up. When you are a young Christian you look for those who share your faith, perhaps in your eyes to help validate it. When they are shown on national TV on a near weekly basis it makes quite an impression. I always appreciated how Mr. Landry conducted himself and always appeared to be in control. I always contrasted his sideline behavior to that of John Madden. In many ways I tried to emulate the man.
It’s encouraging that every one of us can influence others just the way we are. Look at the names Kevin mentioned. Only Tony Dungy is similar to Landry. Regardless of our style, we can be leaders and help guide and shape our own little piece of the world we share. Thanks Kevin for bringing back some wonderful memories of a remarkable man.