Basketball Servant Leadership Series- Stewardship

“You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving.” Amy Carmichael

Stewardship combines the importance of responsibility and foresight. It is the will to care for something of value with the intent to give the resource to another or to the next generation. Steward means overseer of workers, to watch over. Stewardship is the dedication and responsibility to watch over the resources, time, and talent we have been given.

Imagine your life. What would stewardship mean in daily practice?

Stewardship of the gift of health: For many who have experienced a significant injury or health crisis, health is one of the greatest gifts we have. Are you a steward with your health? Do your daily habits place you in a position to be as healthy as you want to be 10 years from now?

What factors are causing a negative effect on your health?

Fuel: Does what you eat, and drink contribute to the preservation of your health for years to come?

Movement: Have you allowed comfort to dominate your movement choices, or do you push your body toward improvement and regeneration?

Emotions: Are you angry, bitter, or frustrated often? These negative emotions are warning signs and over time, create significant wear and tear on the body.

Stress and anxiety: Living in fight or flight increases your level of cortisol which is one of the biggest factors in long-term poor health.

If you could make one life habit to improve your stewardship of physical health for the benefit of your family and your future, what is a meaningful improvement you can make right now?

Stewardship of the gift of time: Time is a finite resource and each of us has no indication of how much time we have. Time becomes precious when it becomes intentional. “Wasted” time is not wasted if it has meaning. “Productive” time can be wasted if it has no meaning. Time spent without meaning is truly a waste.

In your finite amount of time each day, what are the core values and intentions you want for your life? What “productive” time has become meaningless that you can remove from your daily schedule? What is “wasted” time that is meaningful that you need to add? What is wasted time that doesn’t add to your wellbeing or overall life mission that you can cut? Take some time to eliminate these habits and replace them with better choices.

Stewardship of your talents: There is no one like you on the planet. You have been created on purpose for a purpose. What brings you joy? Can you give this gift of joy to others? Sports is a great and meaningful way to invest in talent. The discipline and tenacity necessary to play basketball well will serve you all your life. The beautiful aspect about talent is that it translates to other areas of life. Someone who had tremendous grit on the court will have grit in the office. A servant leader on their basketball team who encourages others will encourage their family. It’s true that unhealthy habits in one area also translates into unhealthy habits in another. Often the time you invest in your talent development, in service to your team, and not solely for your own ego, ripples exponentially into your future.

What are some qualities you have developed through sports you are thankful for that you want to continue to improve?

Stewardship of your resources: Leaders leave places better than they found them. This is a hallmark teaching lesson at NBC. When you leave a room, is it neater than when you entered or worse? Is your environment healthier, cleaner, more positive because you were there, or is it worse?

Pick an area you would love to be a better steward: limiting waste production, tidiness, quality conversations, or quality thinking.

Basketball and Stewardship
Everywhere you go, there is someone always looking up to you. Younger players are looking to their siblings and older teammates for people to emulate. Stewardship means responsibility holding the respect of your community and team by representing your community well. Basketball is intimately woven into the fabric of many of our towns and communities. Basketball players are often the leaders in their schools.

Look at the players you know personally who have influenced you. Not the pros or the college players, but the young men or women you rub shoulders with at practice or in games in your community. Who are the players you admire and why do you admire them?

Now consider the players who are younger than you, who see you around town. With COVID, much of this has been lost. Now more than ever, older students can steward the gift of basketball to those coming next by encouraging younger athletes, helping with the younger team basketball development, and investing in the future of the next generation of players.

For many, basketball during COVID has been difficult and one of the most challenging experiences of your life. Some athletes have mentally given up and some athletes have despaired and become depressed. Some athletes have maintained a steady workout schedule and disciplined routine. Wherever you land on that spectrum, don’t worry. Trust God. As you have hope in difficulty, you will find more opportunities, great options, and experiences. Hope opens doors. Keep faithful to the habit of hope. Need more hope? Trials produce perseverance—keep sticking to it, build strong daily habits, pick up the ball, not the phone or the remote. Perseverance brings proven character. Proven character is your demonstration of daily decisions to persevere and do your work. Proven character brings hope, and the good news is that hope does not disappoint. That is a promise.

A message to coaches about stewardship

How do you treat your team? Some coaches treat players like feudal lords. Their players are serfs in their fiefdom. They have total domination of the player and can do and act in whatever ways they feel is necessary for the win. Some coaches treat players like princes and princesses. They cater to these players and never require following through or discipline. Some coaches treat players like servant leaders. Their players play with greater wisdom, freedom, confidence as well as humility to help serve the team.

How about you? What kind of program are you building?

A message to parents about stewardship

The hardest pill to swallow for parents is the recognition that the home you have is what you created—a painful reality for many. It is far easier to blame kids and blame society. But home reflects the parents’ leadership or lack thereof. This truth can cause shame and a negative cycle of frustration and blame.

Change the cycle with the implementation of 80/15/05

Eighty percent of the interactions with family members should be loving, engaging, fun, joyful, meaningful, life-giving.

Fifteen percent of the interactions with family members should be self-responsibility, asking forgiveness, listening, and noticing ways you personally frustrated and alienate the family.

Five percent of the interactions should be pointing out ways other family members could help make the team stronger with this interaction being received with positivity and gratitude.

Many families operate in a 30/0/70 percentage--limited positive interactions or fun times, and 70 percent in frustration pointing out the shortcomings of others in ways that the other person neither appreciated, wants to hear, or is thankful to receive.

How about you? Look at the percentage in your home. Take a week and see if you can turn those percentages around.