Page 86 - The Bible On Leadership

Humility 73

troops.’’ Every day, the head of this huge food manufacturer showed up
in a brown uniform with ‘‘Don’’ embroidered on the shirt pocket. 3
And then there is the example of Andy Grove of Intel working in a
small, open cubicle virtually indistinguishable from that of an adminis-
trative assistant.
Athletics is often considered an area where ‘‘only the arrogant sur-
vive.’’ Today, with more and more athletes making millions of dollars
and exhibiting strong ‘‘in your face’’ attitudes, many coaches have had
to develop even more aggressive attitudes. There has been a lot of
teeth-baring and aggressive posing, as middle-aged coaches try to get
their overpaid young charges to fall into line, exercise discipline on and
off the field, and put team goals before their own personal glory.
At times, these clashes of ego have resulted in violence. Bobby
Knight, former basketball coach at Indiana University, was well known
for browbeating and insulting his players and was finally removed after
physically assaulting a student. On the players’ side, Latrell Sprewell of
the National Basketball Association had to change teams after he physi-
cally assaulted his coach.
The arrogance and aggression of both coaches and players were toler-
ated for years because their teams were winning. But probably the most
successful college basketball coach of all time, John Wooden of UCLA,
compiled his record number of NCAA championships based on humil-
ity, not on ego, aggression, or greed.
‘‘Wooden’s faith in God was complete,’’ writes Brian De Biro, his
biographer. ‘‘This enabled him to balance genuine humility with solid
belief in himself.’’ (We’ve never heard Wooden referred to as the Moses
of his athletic program, but the comparison would be apt.) ‘‘He never
chased perfection because he believed it to be the sole domain of God.’’
(Now that’s true humility.) ‘‘He never lost sight of his own fallibility
and consequently was able to see mistakes as temporary errors in judg-
ment, not permanent flaws in character.’’ 4
One Bible figure who never lost sight of his own fallibility was the
disciple Peter. Once he was approached by the Roman centurion, Cor-
nelius, who was so anxious to hear about the word of Christ that he fell
at Peter’s feet in reverence. This would have been the perfect time for