The Shrewd Servant and How Cutting Corners will Kill You

I just had the pleasure and honor of speaking to the 2010 Bearcat Football team from right here at Saint Vincent College. Today marks "day one" of the season.  The young men started at 0615 and pushed it hard right through the last whistle at 0715.  My job today was to observe the team leaders and give them some feedback.

As they sat down, chests heaving for breath and sweat dripping on the hardwood floor, I decided to tell them a story.  I told them the parable of the shrewd (and unethical) servant from Luke's gospel. To paraphrase:  the master decided to question his head bean counter because he had heard some allegations that the bean counter was cheating him.  The bean counter gets worried about getting fired and realizes he has no marketable skills.  Panicking, he calls each of the master's debtors and cuts their debts in half, thus endearing himself to them and possibly paving a way for a future job.

He ripped the master off in the little things and ripped him off in a big way for his personal gain.

The moral of the story is that if you are faithful in the little things, you'll be faithful in the big things.  The converse is true, as the story illustrates: if you cut corners on the little things, you'll be apt to cut corners on the big things as well.

The leadership lesson was simple for this morning:  leader, are you cutting corners in the little things?  Does your team cut corners on the little things?

As I watched those young men work out this morning, I was impressed with their precision as they executed each cycle of their drills.  I didn't see any corner cutting.  In fact, what I saw was a group of organic team leaders encouraging and exhorting their teammates down to the last man.  If they can keep it up - if they can bring that level of intensity and execution - through each cycle of each drill, through each cycle of each lifting session and if they begin to lead within themselves, they may just see a few ticks in the W column this year.

What's happening on your team? Are they being faithful  in the little things or are they cutting some corners?  Take a lesson from these young athletes: you reap what you sow.  Good job, Bearcats!

David