Don’t be a tool, or treat others like one.

Yesterday, while I was plowing the drifts of snow out of my driveway, something broke. My lawn tractor was stuck in forward, up against a pile of snow. Without reverse or the ability to shift to neutral, I was, literally, going nowhere.

Had I pushed that little tractor too hard?

Had I asked it to do something that was beyond its abilities? Had I treated it badly or not done some routine maintenance? I tried some encouragement, shouting, “Oh, come on!” over the grumble of the 14-horsepower engine. No change. And no amount of shouting, encouragement, or pleading solved the problem.

It is, after all, just a tractor… just a tractor. It’s just a tool.

And so, in spite of the freezing cold temperatures, I went to my garage for a couple of wrenches, laid down in the snow, crawled underneath and fixed my little tractor.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about my leadership style and method: how I treat the people on the teams I lead.

Do I push them too hard?

Do I ask them to do things outside of their primary gifts and abilities?

Do I mistreat them?

Do I fail to routinely invest in their growth?

Do I encourage, or shout?

Over a year ago, I described the way we train our activities leadership at SpringHill Camps to “ROCC their staff.” We teach them to Resource, Observe, Coach and Correct. But I think that the earlier post revealed a weakness in my leadership. I left out the essential component of great leadership: Caring.

Great leaders care for the people they lead.

They don’t treat them like tools.

They don’t push them too hard, but they also don’t neglect to challenge them.

They don’t ask them to do things outside of their abilities, but they do invest in them to help them develop new abilities.

They invest in their growth.

They encourage.

They say thank you.

And they show them they care about them as people, not just about what they can do.