Why Eagles Fly High (Bot9 #363)
I’ve encountered a strange group of individuals over the past week - people who have never seen HBO’s Hard Knocks series. How could someone miss something so nearly perfect? Kidding aside, for me, it’s a sign that fall sports are ready to begin along with the new football season. This year, the show’s focus is the New York Jets…and why wouldn’t you choose the Jets with all of the storylines surrounding that team. Aaron Rodgers, high expectations, exuberant head coach - they’re perfect television.
At the beginning of the first episode, the producers show us Head Coach Robert Saleh addressing his team, highlighting the kind of deep-thinking, emotion-stirring leader Saleh is. He opens by telling the team to get out their pencils for a life lesson that will benefit everyone in the room (click the image to watch the speech - and be forewarned that Coach Saleh’s language can get salty…not appropriate to show to your team!). Then he tells the group about eagles, who might fight them, and how the eagle engages in battle. In spite of being more powerful and possessing the ability to dominate the weaker bird, the eagle does something counterintuitive - it flies high. Instead of engaging in the fight, it dares the other bird (or birds, I came to find out with more research) to fly to a higher altitude. Those birds foolish enough to attempt to fly with the eagle end up losing consciousness and falling back to earth. The eagle wins the conflict by flying higher than his adversary.
Gives you a whole new appreciation for Isaiah 40:31, doesn’t it?
Think about this in terms of the theme of these encouragements for this season: Relationships, Atmosphere, Habits. What’s your relationship with conflict? Do you fly higher or do you sink to the level of those fighting against you? What kind of atmosphere do you create when you’re embroiled in a difficult circumstance? Do you somehow manage to exhibit the joy of the Lord or do you walk around with a cloud hanging over your head visible to everyone around you? What kind of habits have you fostered for these trials that will inevitably come? Are you prepared for things to disrupt your daily rhythms (the 5 S’s and presence) yet still lean into the daily practices of invitation, meditation, gratitude, and celebration?
Coaches are pacesetters for the culture of their teams and a lot of coaches talk about being able to set a great culture. Few know how to actually do it. Culture is what it feels like to be on your team every day. As Cynt Marshall, the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks said to her team about the team’s core values, “These values will not just hang on the walls, but they will operate in the halls.” Your team’s culture gets tested when difficult things happen. That could be an injury, an unexpected loss, strife in the team, or an unsupportive parent. It’s when things get hard that your culture gets put to the test.
So what can we do to set the appropriate pace for our teams? Run counter to the current energy. When things are calm or even lethargic, bring the excitement the team needs. When things are tense, show calm. That’s the very definition of setting the pace. One of my favorite go-to examples of this lesson is Brad Stevens when he was coaching at Butler. Brad Ledbetter, author of What Drives Winning, breaks this sequence down in his TED talk (click below). The demeanor Stevens exhibits makes me think of an eagle flying above observing the situation and not getting caught up in the emotion of the moment.
In practices, it’s our responsibility to bring the energy to the athletes. Every day. They’ve come from a long day at school, might be carrying a weight from something that happened in life, and may not be ready for the grind of that day. Again, I’ll go to Pete Carroll as the epitome of a coach who sets the energy of his team at a high level. He’s the pacesetter for his team and he does this intentionally every day. His articulation of how practices should look and feel every day in the video is a masterclass in coaching.
If you’re not flying like an eagle in front of your team and inviting them to follow, it’s time to learn how to fly. Consider where you can run counter to the current energy every day in an effort to set the pace, even if you’re going through something difficult on or off the field. Jesus, our master coach, did this so often and I’d encourage you to see His actions with these fresh eyes throughout the Gospels. How does Jesus show this attribute over and over again throughout His ministry?
I’ll end this week with an eagle story of my own. Bald eagles are generally solitary birds. They’re most often seen in the wild on their own. Many would equate this idea to the notion that “leadership is lonely.” However, in areas where there is an abundance of food, large groups of up to 400 bald eagles have been seen. As we prepare tomorrow’s leaders to transform the world for Christ, the source of all abundance in this world, may we be infectious in drawing others into leadership by running counter to the energy wherever we go and drawing others into the incredible leadership journey ahead.