Your actions, activities, and participation in events always have spoken louder than your words. It is just one of those truths of life. Most people don’t really understand this statement and therefore do not realize how powerful one simple action can be as far as making a loud and bold statement to your supporters…or detractors…as to where you personally stand on any given issue.
Action,…involvement,…commitment,…all are tell-tale signs of just where a person really stands or takes a particular position on a given situation or set of circumstances.
Real true leaders fully understand that the power of action taken is far greater than mere words spoken. You have all heard the old statement that people don’t really care how much you know until they plainly discover and see how much you really care. Observation reveals the absolute truth about a person’s actual character. Your personal actions tell the full story about what you really believe…not just the words you speak.
What most folks fail to understand and utilize is how powerful of a teaching and learning tool an individual’s action really is. People do what people see.
So if one is attempting to teach other people the way they desire things to be done or duplicated, then more can be effectively communicated between the teacher and the student via the action taken by the teacher to show the student what he or she wants done. The best way to teach,…the best way to lead is by example…by doing in front of others exactly what it is that you want them to do for themselves.
It is the wise man, indeed, who learns this lesson early on in his career.
Lecture after lecture will always wear down any listeners/students, but action they can observe drives the teaching point home in their minds faster than all other techniques a teacher can use.
So what I hope you are getting from this discussion is just how important your personal beliefs are, and just how valuable they can be to you when they are translated into positive, produced results.
I am a great fan of the game of football. As a former player on a championship winning team, I know full well what it takes to win and just how hard individuals (coaches and players) have to work and condition themselves in order to reach the pinnacle of championship level success. Preparation is the key to winning. This is not a new concept,…right?
Tony Dungy, former professional football coach of the Indianapolis Colts, related a beautiful story about love, commitment, and self control exhibited by one of his friends who happened to also be a professional football coach of the Dallas Cowboys,…Wade Phillips. This man’s integrity, and personal beliefs truly did exhibit the very facts I want you to learn from this discussion.
Men and women of great character and accomplishment just weren’t born that way. They didn’t just one day make a decision, change their ways, and then begin to live with these great character traits. Oh no,…these people worked long and hard over a much extended period of time to develop themselves and enable themselves to live in such a manner and way. Character is not a birth right. It must be painstakingly brought into being within a person’s life by steady consistent development of doing things right all the time,…and always doing the right thing! Character development is a life long process,…worked on and worked at every day of a person’s life. That is exactly why good character is such a valuable thing in the life of anyone who possess it.
My experience has been that a vast majority of successful men and women who have excelled in their chosen areas of accomplishment are, by and large, very generous people and actively participate in supporting many different worthwhile causes and charities. For the most part they understand that to whom much is given,…much more is required. Consequently they are very actively involved within their own communities and serve the people with whom they work and live.
As anyone of us goes about our daily routines of living life, there will always be distractions, interruptions, and sometimes even complete derailments with which we must all contend. That is just they way life usually works! The key to surviving these unfortunate happenings and still continue to produce and press on forward in the accomplishment of one’s purpose,…is to keep all of your personal commitments,…is to keep your word,…is to persevere and “keep on keeping on” by continuing to perform the work that has been laid out before you, without interruption. Often times that can only be achieved by having and then relying upon a force,…a power,…a person who is greater than yourself.
The Holy Scriptures admonish us to honor and keep all of our commitments. The Bible says in the Book of Philippians, Chapter 3, verses 12-16 NKJV :
Pressing Toward The Goal
(12) “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected;
but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ
Jesus has also laid hold of me.
(13) Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but
one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
(14) I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus.
(15) Therefore let us as many as are mature, have this mind; an if
in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to
you.
(16) Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained,
let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.”
There is simply no question that God wants us to keep our commitments! We, who follow Him, are never to fail to keep our commitments, no matter what things, people, events, or circumstances happen to us, even if they are not in our favor. Your word is your bond. Make sure that you keep it so.
Now back to the story……
Wade Phillips, former head coach of the Dallas Cowboys professional football team, has for a long time been seriously involved and committed to a social community program known as One Heart. This program is dedicated to getting people involved with the youth of their communities, specifically with “at-risk” and/or incarcerated youth, to help them stay out of trouble and become productive members of society.
A big planned awareness and fund raising event, i.e. a football game, between the tough kids of the One Heart program who were in the Gainesville State Correctional School in Texas and the team of the local Faith Christian School in the Dallas area were to play the game for all those interested folks in and around the Dallas, Texas community. An interesting side note regarding the game is that almost all of the Gainesville State School football players had no families or students to cheer them on during the game. So as to exemplify Christianity, a good example, sportsmanship, and good will, the coach of Faith Christian School divided his school’s supporters in half and had one half of them root and cheer for the State School players while the other half rooted and cheered for their own Faith Christian School and its players.
Once they heard about the developing story, Coach Phillips and other members of the Dallas Cowboys got involved hoping to further spread the impact of Faith Christian’s actions far beyond the one night event.
As is so many times the case,…when a big and God-glorying and people- helping event is about to occur,…catastrophe strikes!…And it did.
On the very day of the fund raising event for the One Heart program, word came that Coach Phillips had been fired by the Dallas Cowboys!
No one at One Heart expected him to show up for the benefit. It was perfectly understandable. But a man of integrity and great character does not cave in to uncontrollable circumstances. He positively stunned everyone on the day of the game when he confidently walked into the stadium to attend and be part of the big game!
Wade Phillips believed in One Heart. He believed in keeping his word. He believed that his life and what he can do with his days in building a legacy, was bigger than himself.
He was able to use his platform…whatever it was…for good, just as he was,…just with what he had,…just hours after receiving that devastating news about his job,…his career,…his livelihood.
Most observers would probably agree that it wouldn’t have been wrong if he hadn’t honored that particular commitment to One Heart.
In the end though, his choice to attend the charity event wonderfully demonstrated how spiritually mature he really was and that simple demonstration made an even bigger impact!
Pause just a moment and think over the things that are interfering with your performance and commitment to completing those projects on which you are working. Ask yourself,…Is there a commitment that you need to honor today, on your job, at home, in your business or in your church or community? If there is, then please complete it,…if it is at all humanly possible…Doing so will speak volumes to all others watching you regarding your personal spiritual maturity and integrity level.
People Do What People See !
Leaders Gotta Lead………………..