Genuine leaders are genuinely humble
Tim Anderson is a name you may only know if you are a Major League Baseball fan. He is a shortstop with the Chicago White Sox.?
It wasn’t until Cindy and I lived on the near South Side of Chicago that I took any genuine interest in baseball. Several of our neighbors at Dearborn Tower were native South Siders. They were passionate White Sox fans who were always eager to talk about their team.
Although the team finished in the cellar of the American League Central division from 2013 to 2018, passion among their fans remained intense. Despite a woeful record, when local sports journalists spoke or wrote about the White Sox in the mid-2010s, a phrase many of them repeated with some variation was, “they’re so much fun to watch.”
Cheap tickets, neighbors who were passionate fans, more news about the White Sox than I had ever noticed, and an easy commute to games on public transit all cultivated the natural curiosity in me.?
Tim Anderson was called up from the White Sox Triple-A affiliate, the Charlotte Knights, just a month after we moved to the South Loop. In his earliest days with the White Sox, Anderson showed great promise. In the 99 games he played in 2016, he hit nine home runs and had a batting average of .283, a bit better than the average in the Majors.?
The following year, however, Anderson seemed to flounder. He led all Major League players in 2017 - in errors. His batting average sunk to .204.?
Things have changed for Anderson in more recent years, however. In 2019, Anderson led the Majors with a .335 batting average. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he tied the American League for runs scored, hit ten home runs, and stacked up 21 RBIs playing in 49 of the 60 games that season. ?
Anderson also invests in the lives of youth in his hometown of Tuscaloosa, AL, and his new home in Chicago. Through League of Leaders, a nonprofit he founded in 2017, Anderson provides scholarships for higher education, free haircuts, and leadership development opportunities for boys and girls coming of age in communities affected by violence.?
Since 2019, Anderson has not only performed well individually, but he has also become a leader on the team. Some observers have noted that his work ethic off the field, his passion on the field, and his investment in the lives of boys and girls as they grow to become men and women are the personification of White Sox culture.?
From the variety of things I have read, heard, and watched over the last six years, here is a brief distillation of the leadership lessons to be learned from Tim Anderson.?
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Genuine leaders are genuinely humble. Yes, I remember Anderson’s jubilant celebration after winning the Field of Dreams game against the Yankees last summer, signaling “it’s over!” after hitting the walk-off home run. Yes, I recall how he tossed the bat after knocking a home run off the pitch of Kansas City’s Brad Keller. Yet the consistent message from Anderson in every interview is his insistence that he is working at the craft, learning more each day, and striving to improve his play. Even with the momentary celebrations, Anderson knows he hasn’t arrived and is working to be a better player tomorrow.?
Leaders improve the performance of the team. While individual stats are what land players in the Hall of Fame, the collective success of a team is what wins trophies and rings. While Anderson has been called the emotional leader of the White Sox for several years, I recently discovered that the win-loss percentage brings documented evidence of his value to the team’s efforts. Since 2020, the White Sox have a .584 record with him in the game and a .480 record without him. Since his return from an injury earlier this week, the White Sox have a 1.000 record with Anderson in the game and a .000 record without him.
In reality, those two leadership principles are related. If a leader is constantly obsessed with self-promotion and standing alone in the limelight, they may receive many accolades, get lots of attention, and be hailed by the masses. However, the pursuit of selfish ends will inevitably hurt the success of the whole team, company, or church. It’s an observable reality in sports, business, politics, and ministry.?
What about you? Are you a genuinely humble leader? Do you speak of achievements with the pronoun “we,” or do others hear you claiming credit for yourself? Do others around you accomplish more as a result of following your leadership? Can you see improvement on the whole as a result of your leadership??
Sit down with a trusted friend and explore these questions. No matter what you have achieved, ask them to help you sharpen your skills, work at your craft, and grow in your leadership capacity.?
Enjoy your weekend!?
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The views and opinions expressed in my Thursday Thoughts on Leadership are my own. They do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina or any affiliated churches.