Lead for God’s Sake Analysis
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Feb 20, 2024
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Running head: LEAD FOR GOD’S SAKE 1
Lead…for God’s Sake Analysis
Mynina Stewart
MSCE 510: Principles of Coaching and Leadership
Concordia University Irvine
LEAD FOR GOD’S SAKE 2
Lead…for God’s Sake Analysis
In the book “Lead…for God’s Sake”, Coach Rocker faces many personal and professional challenges that cause him much frustration. Coach Rocker struggles with understanding what is wrong with his team and why they are not winning. He also struggles with getting his seniors to lead how he wants them to. Moreover, aside from his difficulties as a coach, he has trouble balancing his home life with his wife and kids.
Coach Rocker initially turns to his neighbor and good friend, Grant Steffin, for advice on how to be successful in getting his team to start caring about winning. Grant holds an executive position in his company, leads a team of employees, and has many nice material things to show for it all. Coach Rocker is hopeful he could give some helpful insight into motivating his team to want to win. Grant uses the treasure and hatchet scenario to lead, equating to his belief that people are only motivated by rewards and fear. He insists that leadership is the art of getting people to do what the leader wants. To do so, rewarding high and punishing big are the only ways. Grant uses the example of paying his employees well and giving them big rewards if they do so, but if they do the opposite, there will be hell to pay, such as being left behind or losing employment. Grant suggests staying on top of his team and pushing them as a solution to keep them doing well rather than solely rewarding them. Coach Rocker relates this theory to his way of using winning to motivate his team, but since the team, in his opinion, did not want it bad enough, he needs to use fear, but after so long, that has no longer worked for the basketball team either. Grant also validates Coach Rocker’s feelings about sacrificing his home life and other personal relationships or experiences to succeed. When Coach Rocker finds out Grant’s wife and kids moved out of the home, he is taken aback but does not sway much from their shared opinions on success at the time.
LEAD FOR GOD’S SAKE 3
Coach Rocker’s initial interactions with Janitor Joe confused him and raised questions for
him. He casually told Coach Rocker that he would figure it all out and that everything happened for a reason, but it frustrated him that he could not understand what Joe was hinting at. Joe insisted that to change the outcome of his circumstances, he must first change his heart. He agreed that there was a treasure and hatchet, but the heart was missing. Coach Rocker expected his team to start winning and the seniors to lead without first being a leader and guiding them appropriately using his heart. Joe pointed out that separating good leaders from bad ones is their “why,” and Coach Rocker needed to learn what his was. He helped him realize that he was operating like a jet trying to reach its destination but was not considering the passengers he had along the journey. He only worried about his accomplishments and did not have God and his heart at the center of his pursuits. Joe also pointed out that the more a person wins, the more they want it and get wrapped up in chasing their own treasures.
Coach Rocker’s home life suffered a lot before he righted his wrongs and changed his behavior. He could not balance coaching and taking the time and effort to connect with his family. Before seeking guidance from Joe, he reaffirmed that sacrificing his relationships was worth it if he won games and maintained his status as the winningest coach. His wife became distant and openly lowered her expectations of him, and his son began turning to video games more to occupy himself since Coach Rocker was not spending enough time with him. Initially, he could see the changes in his family's behavior towards him, but he did not acknowledge his shortcomings and instead excused them. It was not until Joe explained that his relationship with God and others should be the central focus of the heart as God intended them to be. Once he came to terms with this advisement, he began mending his relationships with his players and family.
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LEAD FOR GOD’S SAKE 4
The single most important leadership principle from Janitor Joe that struck a deep chord within me was the importance of nurturing relationships with others and, most importantly, with God while having that be the center of my heart in everything I pursue. His stance on not putting
God in a priority box was eye-opening because working or participating in the sports industry, “God, Family, Sport,” is what I have always heard and believed was an incredible and simple way to prioritize life. I have never looked at it from the perspective of putting God on a list of priorities instead of keeping Him at the center of everything I pursue. That principle is a reminder I will carry with me throughout my life and, more importantly, in my relationships with
others. Although Coach Rocker faced many challenges throughout the basketball season, he learned great lessons that made him a better man to his peers, team, and family. Grant Steffin did not intentionally misguide Coach Rocker. His interpretation of the treasure and the hatchet drawing was misconstrued, but he genuinely believed that was the reality of whether one would succeed and how badly they were willing to. Coach Rocker changed his whole perspective on his life and coaching with the guidance of Janitor Joe. Joe helped him pick apart every aspect of his situation to help him see more clearly and find the answers he was searching for. It came full
circle for Coach Rocker when he used Joe's wisdom to help Grant reflect on his own life as a leader, though he initially went to Grant for guidance. Coach Rocker learned many lessons, and in turn, he was able to mend his relationships with the team, his family, and God and found peace within himself in the end by doing so.
LEAD FOR GOD’S SAKE 5
References
Gongwer, T. G. (2014). Lead . . . for God's Sake!: A parable for finding the heart of leadership.
Tyndale House Publishers.