On April 25, 2003, 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert walked onto the court prior to the Portland Trail Blazers first-round play-off game with the Dallas Mavericks to sing the National Anthem. She had been selected for the honor as a result of winning a promotional vote by the fans to do so.
As the eight-grader began to sing, she suddenly forget the words to a song she has heard countless times. Everyone in attendance – coaches, players, team officials, referees, fans, stadium employees, security, military personnel, and family members – all began to feel terrible and get that uncomfortable pit in your stomach for her. After all, this could easily be our own 13-year-old daughter on that court holding a microphone.
But one caring and compassionate man stepped forward to help. And he wasn’t just any man. Watch the inspiring video below to see what happened next:
The man who stood beside Natalie and sang with her was none other than Trailblazers’ head coach Maurice Cheeks. Cheeks, the person entrusted with leading and guiding highly-skilled grown men into high-performance, high-stress, and high-stakes environments, was now doing the same for a 13-year-old girl.
The following are 5 Things Caring And Compassionate Leaders Do we learn from Coach Cheeks during this extraordinary moment:
Caring And Compassionate Leaders Leave Their Place Of Comfort To Help Others In Discomfort
Comfort and compassion rarely mix. Cheeks could have easily stayed on the comfort of the bench. After all, he had a play-off game to coach. But Cheeks walked across the court and assisted Natalie. Caring and compassionate leaders are constantly walking across courts, walking across rooms, walking across streets, and walking across various divides to build bridges and serve others.
Caring And Compassionate Leaders Take A Personal Risk
When Cheeks began to sing we all discovered he was challenged in this area. In short, he can’t sing. But who am I to talk! Cheeks risked ridicule and the mockery of fans to help someone who desperately needed someone by her side. Serving others costs you something but the return you get will be exponentially larger.
Caring And Compassionate Leaders Set Others Up For Success
While Cheeks was a successful head coach, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2018 because of his career as the world-champion point guard of the Philadelphia 76ers. Cheeks was known for setting up legendary players Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones for success. However, his greatest assist may well been have to Natalie Gilbert.
Caring And Compassionate Leaders Are Contagious
As Cheeks began to sing, the entire arena soon joined in. Care and compassion are contagious. People want to join in and be part of the story of serving others.
Caring And Compassionate Leaders Are Memorable
When your life is over, people will not remember you for what you built or how much money you made. They will remember you for how you made them feel. What is your legacy of service? There are countless people who have no knowledge of how talented Cheeks was as a player. But we will all remember him for how he made us feel when he served someone in need on April 25, 2003.
So will Natalie Gilbert.
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