There is a very good chance that if you are reading this article you are a leader and high-achiever. You are also probably a reader, doer, problem-solver, and have a bias for action. But in the midst of all you are likely accomplishing, there often comes a dark side. Sometimes my and your priorities can get out of line.
Because of its importance (or let’s be honest, because we love it so much), our job can take away time from our spouses, children, and negatively impact our health. No leader is immune. This can happen to all of us.
A leader I have great admiration for is Coach Keith Madison. Coach Madison coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats baseball team for twenty-five years amassing 737 wins. This highly-decorated leader has been inducted into the Kentucky High School Baseball, University of Kentucky, and the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fames. Today, he works with SCORE International where he combines the two passions in his life: Jesus and baseball.
Early in his coaching career, Coach Madison had a problem with priorities. With all the responsibilities that come with running a successful Division I athletic program, he found his life was getting out of balance. While discussing this problem with a friend, Coach Madison was asked what his priorities should be? Like most of us, Coach Madison said God would be first, family second, and the baseball program third.
Coach Madison’s friend surprisingly said, “No, you’ve got it all wrong.”
When Coach Madison asked him to elaborate, his friend said, “You should put your family first and your program second.” He then went on to list all the other priorities Coach Madison mentioned. His friend then said, “You (now) put God first in each one.”
A light bulb then went off in Coach Madison’s mind. He said, “If we put God first in our program, that makes sense to me.” In other words, rather than God being a line item where the program received sixty hours a week and God got only ten, God would become the priority in each priority.
When asked what this realization did for him, Coach Madison said, “It took the guilt away. It helped me to be all-in wherever I was. If I was with my team I was all-in. If I was with my family I was all-in. I felt like God was giving me the grace and allowing me to put Him first in that situation.”
If you are having problems with priorities in your life, try this unique approach we learned from Coach Madison. Rather than making God an individual line item, simply make a list of your priorities and make Him first in each and every priority listed. This way you can be all-in in whatever you are doing and fully-present in every circumstance.
To demonstrate, the following are my list of priorities:
- My wife Sonya and God is first in our marriage.
- My daughter Anna and son-in-law Jonathan and God first in our relationship.
- My extended family and God is first in those relationships.
- My health and God is first in my decisions and habits.
- My job and God is first in my performance and I trust Him for my production.
- My friendships and God is first in how I add value to others.
- My church and God is first in how I should submit to spiritual leadership.
- My finances and God is first in how I steward my money.
- My influence and God is first how I choose to leverage it.
- My personal platform and God in first in my writing, speaking, and consulting.
God is not a line item in my life and leadership. God is the priority in all of my priorities.
Coach Madison comments were taken from a weekly Zoom Bible study of high school, collegiate, and professional baseball scouts and coaches. If you are a baseball scout or coach and would like information on how to join this incredible group of men, email pastor Mike Linch at mike.linch@northstarchurch.org and he will get you all the information you need.
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