Brandon Ives

There is an interesting article in Newsweek concerning the new face of masculinity. The message on the cover says it all, Man Up! But what does it mean to man up?

Does it mean that the “path to masculinity is paved with girly jobs and dirty diapers?” It may seem that way. The authors do suggest that a return to stereotypical ruggedness and machismo will not save masculinity. But in a fair minded response, Albert Mohler reminds us that becoming less macho doesn’t necessarily make things better.

“Today’s men are likely to be more nurturing, but they are also statistically less faithful. They may be changing more diapers, but they are also more likely to change spouses. Men must be encouraged and expected to be both faithful fathers and faithful husbands. Otherwise, any society is in big trouble.”

I would add, fathers and husbands should still provide for their families, work hard and provide servant leadership in the home. Yet, grow more faithful in being present, nurturing and loving. Men do not have to crawl back into the cave to return to masculinity but we shouldn’t expect them to look like women either. Gender equality doesn’t mean that men and women are the same. It means they are equally valued, respected and protected.

The one issue that everyone should agree upon is the face of manhood is changing. I have a three year old son and I pray that he will one day become a faithful young man. If that means being in a traditionally female job, that’s great! As long as he is providing for his family and serving God faithfully.

Labels: Albert Mohler, Leadership, Men, Newsweek

Last night’s NFL Draft is good TV, even if you don’t enjoy football. But why? Because it creates drama. Now of course, most of the drama created is artificial and the true out come of the draft will not be seen for years. But really, we don’t care about that. We love to watch for the surprise pick, the unpredictable fall of highly touted stars, and of course the Raiders and their nonsense.

But having said all this, last nights biggest surprise was the young man who shouldn’t have been picked(at least according to Mel Kiper). Tim Tebow was drafted by the Denver Broncos as their 25th overall selection. So with this in mind, I thought I would share a couple of thoughts as to why Tim Tebow works…

Character Matters
Period. Ben Roethlisberger is finding this out right now. What really happened between Ben and the young women who has made accusations against him may never come out, yet what got Roethlisberger suspended were a string of poor decisions. Each one of which reveal his character. I’m not saying Ben is evil or guilty, but multiple poor decisions show us something of who he is. Ben put himself in multiple bad places and now the NFL and the Steelers organization are making him pay the consequences for those decisions. When the Denver Broncos (who know something about knuckleheads, see Brandon Marshall) choose Tebow, they choose a young man who has impeccable character.

Leadership
In case you haven’t heard, Tebow was a leader of two national championship teams and the field commander of a college football team that included numerous NFL caliber players. Oh, did I mention they have already built statues of his leadership moments outside the stadium at Florida. Tim may not be the most talented player, but he has been one of the most successful leaders in college football history.

Talent
But he’s Talented enough. When everyone runs a 4.5 forty and everyone throws the football 65 yards down the field, what makes the difference? Intangibles. Or at least that is what they are called most often. What are they? I don’t really know. What makes Joe Montana a better quarterback than Ryan Leaf? You can’t really say other than the fact that Montana has a finger full of Superbowl rings. Talent isn’t enough. It is only useful when you pair it with other things. Allen Iverson is one of the most spectacular basketball players ever, yet he never won a championship because it was always his show. Point guard Derrek Fisher on the other hand, has won multiple championships because of selfless play and working within the system he plays. Tebow learned very early on that playing within the system allows the system to work. This is how his team one their first national title.

Winner
Finally, Tebow is a winner. Even when his team is defeated, his attitude is that of a winner. Positive, encouraging, and driven to work harder, rally the troops, and make sure that this doesn’t happen again. Sure he’ll lose again. In Denver, he may lose a lot. But his mentality is that of a winner and you can’t teach that.

We can learn from sports and events like the draft. Often we like to pick high, grab the things that look great now, sacrifice late term picks for short term gain. But let’s remember that the bests teams almost always build their franchise in the late rounds. One pick doesn’t change the world. Consistent good choices over the long haul builds enduring success. If you don’t believe me, go look at the rosters of the Pittsburg Steelers and New England Patriots.

Labels: Leadership, NFL, sports, Tim Tebow

Labels: Culture, Leadership, Stats

We need to worry more about overconfidence than we do incompetence in leaders. Incompetent people make lots of mistakes but are rarely in places of influence.

Incompetence irritates me, but overconfidence scares me. And we should be worried by the fact that we live in a culture that actually likes and rewards overconfidence in its leaders.

We think that, in times of crisis, we need daring and bold leadership from charismatic leaders, and we don't - we need humility ... the ability and willingness to listen to others as a learner.

-Malcolm Gladwell, Catalyst Conference, Atlanta, October 2009

Labels: Leadership, Quotes

Seth Godin has a new post about concerning bullhorns and how they are overrated. He says,

They cost too much and they don't work very well.

Most people ignore them, they don't last very long and they're undependable.

Anil Dash has discovered that having ten times as many Twitter followers generates approximately zero times as much value.

The goal shouldn't be to have a lot of people to yell at, the goal probably should be to have a lot of people who choose to listen. Don't need a bullhorn for that.

Labels: Leadership, Seth Godin, Twitter