[rating:2]
(Carol Stream, Illinois: Tyndale House, 2010)
230 pgs
I don’t read a lot of sports-related leadership books. I generally find them to be relatively surface level as far as leadership insights go and more anecdotal about famous sports characters we all like to know the inside story about. Generally I found this book to fall into this genre.
That said, I do respect Tony Dungy. He is clearly a sincere Christian who has experienced success and is highly thought of. He has managed to maintain his integrity both in professional football as well as on television. His agreeing to mentor Michael Vick after his jail time for animal abuse showed real character and courage.
For the most part I did not find anything in this book on leadership that was particularly insightful or unusually deep. What did attract me to this book was his focus on mentoring. Dungy suggests that it is possible to lead without mentoring (117). But mentoring is adding value into peoples’ lives (193). He suggests that ultimately, the most important thing in life is relationships (5).
Dungy gives numerous examples from football, especially from his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as when he was a coach at Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. For those who follow the NFL, this provides great insights into well-known athletes and coaches.
However, although there are obviously some great leadership principles inherent in guiding a football team, I have always felt like much of the thinking that comes out of football somehow carries the feeling of a pep rally. At the end of the day you are trying to motivate and organize highly paid athletes to get a pig skin across a line more times than the opposition does (Hopefully this is not showing my bias for hockey too much!).
Some statements by Dungy could be challenged. Such as that Jesus sought to get the “right” people around him. Obviously Judas would not have fit in that category! Nor were the rest of the disciples particularly noteworthy. In reality, Jesus made those men the “right” kind of people! I am sure Dungy would agree with that, as he advocates mentoring. Dungy also classifies “character” as a competency. I am not sure I would use the same categories as Dungy.
He does note that we are all serving as a role model for someone. He also places great emphasis on investing our lives intentionally into other people. That resonated with me. At times we can be so busy getting our own jobs done, that we neglect the invaluable investment of helping others achieve their maximum potential. I was challenged by his descriptions of veteran athletes who help out rookies even though they realize that the rookie will one day be challenging them for their own job. That shows real character and a concern for others.
Dungy adopts Maxwell’s definition of “Leadership is influence” which I have always felt was inadequate. Dungy clearly has thought much about leadership and has demonstrated it. But generally he adopts the teachings of popular leadership authors without seeming to critique them very deeply. I believe his focus on investing in people is sound and needed. I have always been uneasy about the concept of “mentoring” for at least two reasons. For one, it is not a biblical term. That in itself is not crucial, neither are many other things that are helpful for Christians to practice. But secondly, traditional mentoring involves one person teaching and training another, one on one. I don’t think one on one teaching over time is a healthy biblical model. Traditionally, discipleship was done in groups. Even the apostle Paul noted that he had taught Timothy in the presence of others (2 Timothy 2:2). The problem with one on one is that you can share your strengths with someone else, but you will invariably also pass on your weaknesses and blind spots. That is why it is better to have more people in the process, so others can make up for where you may lack.
That said, Dungy is not really presenting a book describing the traditional model of one on one mentoring. He seems to be focusing on the mindset of investing ourselves into others whenever the opportunity arises. With that, I can fully agree.
This is the kind of book you read when you need something a bit lighter than the heavier fare we have reviewed in these pages. If you are a football fan, you’ll enjoy the numerous stories you would expect from such a book. If you have not given much thought to mentoring, this may encourage you to be more intentional about it.
Overall this would not add a lot of new information to your leadership library but you may still want to read it to be encouraged by how one high profile person has consciously chosen to share what God has given him with others.