Let me begin by saying I am a proud Giants Fan, that being said, I am not happy about Tom Brady’s 4 game suspension over DeflateGate. Roger Godell’s judgements over the past year puts his role as NFL Commissioner on the chopping block. This could be said of any leader who’s had a series of bad decision.
So Roger, I’d like to help you (and anyone else in a leadership position) out and maybe help you keep your job. Most importantly I hope these verses will help all us become the leader we could be and that the organizations we serve needs.
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Matthew 7:5
Roger is not the first or only hypocrite. He’s just the hypocrite of the moment. We’re all hypocrites at different moments. It might be how we treat others at work or how we reward or punish our own kids. The first step to any good judgement is to check our own hearts first and we’ll see things more clearly.
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15;22
There are many ways to make a wrong decision and here are just a few of them
- Make them in an echo chamber where everyone is kissing your ring
- Make them with tone deaf people who are not listening to the community.
- Make them with people who have skewed ethics or morals
I don’t know who Roger Godell has around him but we can always raise the bar by raising the level of the people we receive council from.
Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.Proverbs 31:9
Yes, we know Roger’s job is to defend the integrity of The Shield, the CEO to defend his company, the pastor to defend his congregation, but what if you’re on the wrong side of an issue? What if defending comes at the sacrifice of those who need to be heard, need justice, need our voice? The all important bottom line does not always have to be the bottom line.
Check out this CEO who took a million dollar pay cut to increase his employees salary
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. James 3:17
Treat everyone the same. Treat the Patriots the same way you would treat the Bengals. If the rules are the rules then the rules apply equally to everyone. This is our sense of justice and fairness kicking in and what we want from those who lead us. As a rule, we lack wisdom when we change the rules for favors, popularity, money, a bribe, or any other incentive. Another proverb says
To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong. Proverbs 28:21
But I admit to showing partiality but Jesus did too. The law said the woman should be stoned and He defended her. The law said not to heal on the Sabbath and Jesus did it because doing good was of more value. The law said you could not touch lepers but Jesus did and healed them. When am I more partial to showing partiality?
- When people own their mistakes (contrition and humility)
- When people fly to rectify a situation.
- When people give the effort to change their behavior
- When people are weak and need my help not my judgement
Knowing the difference between favoritism and partiality goes a long way to being a good leader and judge. As leaders we know the rules and know when they apply and when we should dip into the tool box of options at our disposal should come into play.
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36, 37
I recently heard a politician say that he is more concerned about Judgement Day than Election day and that is what informs his decision making process. We all should live with the end in mind. If we, as leaders, live with the end in mind we be more merciful because we want mercy, forgive because we want forgiveness, bring justice so we will be justified. The end is always near, let’s live that way.