There is an old addage that you’ve probably heard 1,000 times:
They aren’t going to care how much you know until they know how much you care!
This is a great adage for every leader to live by. You’ve got to let your troops know that you care about them. This is especially true if you are working with teenagers these days. They are more sensitive in years past. Kids these days, if you ask them to run through a wall, most will ask why! Most will say “But Coach, I can walk right around it if I walk over there,” instead of just running through it like you and I would’ve done.
But kids who know you care, they will still run through that wall! I just think that we have to show even more these days that we care. We have to care, or they won’t participate. Do you have empathy for those you lead? Do you truly care about those you are leading?
I think that Paul, of the New Testament was a great leader. He penned many of the books in the Bible. He gives us a great perspective on caring for others, on having empathy for others, in his book of Philippians.
Read these four verses, and think critically about them, and how this philosophy is carried out in your leadership!