Written by An Everyday Leader is someone who thinks more about the needs of others than themselves, speaks with integrity, acts with purpose, and most importantly, consistently, positively impacting the lives of others every single day.
I get the opportunity to frequently talk to different groups about leadership. And I usually get a chance to ask several questions. And one of the first questions that I always enjoy asking is, how many of you without question, unequivocally would call yourself a leader? And it’s always an interesting response. Similar, every single time is that about a third of the audience will raise their hand. And of the third, half of them give this half a hand raise, because they’re not completely confident in that answer. And that’s unfortunate because I think that we’ve raised this term “leader” or “leadership” to something so heroic that very few of us will ever have an opportunity to be a part of, in our minds. Well I hope we change that perception today as we talk about leadership.
A couple of other questions that I ask frequently are, what’s the first attribute or word that you think of when you hear that word “leader” or “leadership”? And I get a variety of answers. Things like “courage” and “vision” and “compassion” and “honesty”. Another question that I usually follow up that with, is who is the very first person that you think of when you hear that word, leader or leadership? And those answers vary as well, from that fifth-grade teacher to the wrestling coach to someone of hierarchy and power like a president or a general. Well the one thing that I know is true is that if there’s 100 people sitting in a room and I ask the question: “give me your definition of leadership” – I would probably get about 115 different answers. And that’s because we all see leaders and leadership slightly different.
Well I hope today we’re going to put a stake in the ground and we’re going to talk about a kind of leadership that I refer to as Everyday Leadership. And it’s interesting when I talk about that word “everyday” how that resonates, how people hear that. Cause they hear it usually one of two ways. Is one everyday kind of person is “all of us”. And then the other aspect of it is the chronology: every single day. The definition of an Everyday Leader is an Everyday Leader is someone who thinks more about the needs of others than themselves, speaks with integrity, acts with purpose, and most importantly, consistently, positively impacting the lives of others every single day.
If you were to ask me the same question that I just posed to you, of who do you think of when you think of a leader or leadership? I’d have to tell you a story. A story about one of the greatest jobs that I had between my freshman and sophomore year in college, in a little town in the middle of Missouri name Boonville. The job that I had was an umpire for a five and six-year-old T-ball league in the evenings. Now those of you that have ever been involved in five and six-year-old t-ball know that there are probably some great examples of leadership and some not so great examples of leadership. But one night that I will always remember, I saw one of the greatest examples of an Everyday Leader that I’ve ever seen. It was a July night; muggy, warm, dusty and the game had to be close to an end because we’ve been going for some time. Now to understand how five and six-year old t-ball works, is that kids rarely strike out in t-ball. So what happens is one team will bat all the way around the order, and then it’s the next team’s turn, and they will bat all the way around the order. And when about an hour is up, the game is over. So, my job is really a glorified timekeeper. Well this night, a little boy was coming up to bat and he was the last batter for that team, and as I glanced down and looked at my watch, I knew that there wasn’t enough time for the next team to bat. And I would imagine that the parents felt the same thing cause behind me I could hear cooler lids shutting and chairs folding up. Well as this little boy came up to bat, he had a big smile on his face and was just filled with joy. Now this little boy unfortunately struck out twice that night. You see this little boy suffered from down syndrome so he struggled somewhat with muscle control. Well he came up to bat, and got up to the plate and stood in the batter’s box and his coach came down off the first baseline. Got his legs spread apart just right. Got his bat back up on his shoulder. And I did my job and put the ball on the tee, and a little boy looks back at me and I kind of give him the confirming nod to go ahead. And that little boy swings as hard as he can, and hits the tee and the ball falls off. And it’s strike one. Well the coach comes over again, and gets him set up and gets his legs spread apart, and the bat up and I put the ball on the tee, and the little boy swings as hard as he can and hits the tee again.
And this time that ball falls off directly in front of Homeplate. Well nobody is a complete expert on all of the rules of t-ball, so there’s a moment of silence. What seems like about three minutes, which was probably about three seconds. And then that silence was broken by a voice from the opposing teams’ dugout. And all you could hear was, “run to first, run to first, run to first!” And the little boy looks back at me, and I give him the universal sign run to first. And he takes off as hard as he can toward first base, which is amazing because many try to run to third. And this little boy is going as hard as he can, and now at this time you see the opposing teams’ coach, Coach Schuster, come out of the dugout, yelling for this little boy, cheering him on to “run the first, run to first”. This little boy is more than halfway toward first base, as Coach Schuster turns to his catcher and screams, “throw the ball to first, throw the ball to first!” Well if any of you understand the athletic ability of five-year old, to make the throw from Homeplate to first base, you know what happens. It’s not even close. It ends up on the far-right side of the base, with a whole bunch of little kids chasing it. As that little boy rounds first base, Larry Schuster is now in the coaches’ box cheering him on to, “run to second, run to second, run to second!” And this boy is going as hard as he can, almost turning second base by the time that the other kids get to the ball. Well you see what happens. This little boy hits an inside-the-park homerun. I get choked up telling that story because in my mind I can still see that little boy turning third-base running toward home with the biggest smile on his face and his arms pumping just as hard as they can. And when he crossed Homeplate, kids from both teams met him cheering. Every parent in the stand, it didn’t matter whose parent was for what kid, on what team, they were all just applauding. It was one of those unbelievable, inspirational moments that I will always remember in my life, because one man, in one moment, came out of a dugout.
And that was always a great story, and that moment I will always remember. But a couple years later, I was calling back home and talking to my parents, like I did on a weekly basis, and I was chatting with my mom and I said, “what happened in the little town of Boonville this week?” And she said, well we had the opportunity to go to Larry Schuster’s funeral. And I knew that Larry Schuster had passed away. And I asked her the question. I said, was it very well attended? And she told me that the church was able to seat 200 people, and 150 had to stand outside.
We talk about Everyday Leadership not in a position of hierarchy, or power, or authority, but in character. And that’s exactly what Larry Schuster was. Larry Schuster, his occupation was a simple mechanic. One stall in a little garage taking care of people. Well the interesting thing about that service that my mom told me, was that there was a young man, probably in his late 20s early 30s at this point, that was now an executive for Special Olympics. And that young man got up and gave Larry Schuster’s eulogy by telling the story of a night on a t-ball field when Larry Schuster changed the trajectory of his life. Changed the way that he saw himself and his identity. And changed the path that he was on. One moment. One moment in time where one man to decided to come out of a dugout that changed the trajectory and the path of a young boy’s life. I’ve told that story hundreds if not thousands of times, and I’m sure that young man has as well. The ripple effect in the legacy that Larry Schuster had, not because of his power or authority, or position, but because of his Everyday Leadership.
We’re going to carry on this journey of talking about 8 commitments that Everyday Leaders make to themselves. Commitment number one: Everyday, I will demonstrate kindness and caring for all that I interact with. Commitment number two: Everyday, I will extend trust even before it is earned and assume positive intent of everyone. Number three: Everyday, I will be the example that I want others to follow. Number four: Everyday, I will strive to make every person successful through proactive accountability and respect. Number five: Everyday, I will take 100% responsibility of things within my control, with zero excuses. Number six: Everyday, I will seek to discover and develop potential and everyone, including myself. Number seven: Everyday, I will work for extraordinary results by focusing on our “why”. And number eight: Everyday, I will appreciate everything that I have and show gratitude to all while celebrating our progress.
We have to remember it’s not the heroic moments in life that create the greatest impact, in and with other people. It’s the little things that we do that make the biggest differences. Just like Larry Schuster coming out of that dugout to be able to change the trajectory of that little boy’s life. My challenge to you is just this, today and every day going forward be very intentional and be an Everyday Leader.
Everyday Leadership 