What makes a Leader?

I’m a college football junkie.  If I were a member of Congress I would sponsor legislation requiring college football 12/365!  Marginal college football news is major news for some of us.  I could talk college football all day every day. 

But before those of you who don’t share my passion for pigskin turn the page I want to draw a lesson from the game for everyone – even those who don’t love it.  The lesson is found in the recent NFL Draft.  I like Pro Football; I love college football.  This means I tend to look at professional football through the lens of the college game.  I am interested in what motivates pro owners to spend thousands on a young man based on his performance in college.  Among the many variables considered in forecasting professional prospects is performance under pressure at the college level.

Think about quarterbacks. Quarterbacks playing for an elite team may fail to develop the skills necessary to succeed at a higher level since they were so protected.  Did USC produce quality NFL quarterbacks during the height of their program? You could ask the same about Florida State and Miami. In these cases you can observe that dynasty programs may produce distinctive quarterbacks during their early periods, before having overwhelming advantages.  Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Vinny Testaverde, Brad Johnson, and Carson Palmer come to mind. On the other hand, quarterbacks from elite football programs tend to fail.  Witness Steve Walsh, Craig Erickson, Gino Torretta, Matt Leinart, John David Booty, and Mark Sanchez.    

Moral of the story?  Tough times produce tough men and women who can lead in tough times.  Tough times demand an ethic acquired only in other tough times.  The ugliness of life can certainly make us ugly but it can also make us beautiful.  Hardness may weaken us to such an extent that we will never recover.  It may, however, prep us for even greater hardness.  The fire may destroy us, but then again, it may temper us for greatness. 

The first century B. C. freed slave, Publilius Syrus, known for his maxims said it well: "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."  The pilot who steadies the helm in high seas is typically the one who has been blistered by wind driven brine before.

If this principle is true it can certainly be found in our Bible.  It can!  “Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so I would not exalt myself.  Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times to take it away from me.  But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’  Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.  So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ.  For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12: 7 – 10).

This post appeared originally as a column in The Daily Press.