The following is an excerpt from Leadership Gold by John Maxwell:

Every leader faces tough times - and that’s when leaders distinguish themselves and show who they really are. Leading others can be very difficult and can take great courage. Of course, it’s not that way all of the time. About 95 percent of the decisions a CEO makes could be made by a reasonably intelligent high school graduate. What is often required is common sense. But CEO’s don’t get paid for those decisions; they get paid for the other 5 percent! Those are the tough calls. Every change, every challenge, and every crisis requires a tough call, and the way those are handled is what separates good leaders from the rest.

How do you know when you’re facing a tough call and need to be at your best as a leader? You’ll know when the decision is marked by these three things:

1. The Tough Call Demands Risk
2. A Tough Call Brings with It an Inward Battle
3. A Tough Call will Distinguish You as a Leader

This got me thinking…

Leadership is fun when the road is smooth. When everyone is happy and all the plans fall into place there is no better position than the leaders. However, when the road is bumpy, no one’s happy and every well thought out plan seems to fail… there is no worse position than the leaders.

Making tough decisions, when no one else can or will, is what makes A leader become THE leader. A leader has a title and holds a position. THE leader has a passion and holds influence.

If I’m understanding Mr. Maxwell correctly, leadership demands that we be willing to risk, fight and be clearly identified as THE leader. Therefore, it seems that the first tough call for a leader is to decide if you’re willing to make the tough calls.

I find this story unbelievable. A 9 year old baseball player is so good at pitching that parents of kids on other teams and coaches of other teams called for the league to ban him from that position. What?

I have kids that play little league sports and it can be frustrating to watch a game where the teams are “uneven”. But, I’ve never even considered the idea of protesting the team or the league to eliminate a kid or a team from the league. I’ve just always thought that the more practice, better game strategy or a few lucky breaks may be the way to overcome these situations. At the very least, the kids on the losing side of these games learn how to persevere, play hard and lose well. These seemed like good life skills to pick up as children grow up. What was I thinking?

The world will obviously be a better place when we do everything we can to keep the ones who excel at certain things out of those positions. I mean, we all deserve to feel better about ourself and think we’re actually better than we are in our performance. We must get those over achievers out of whatever system they’re in so that they can be redirected to something where they’ll be common. There is no doubt that it is this type of attitude that has made this country great!

I have no choice but to believe that this is how this group of parents and coaches think. It seems that there are too many people who try to find ways to dumb down the system or live at the lowest common denominator instead of stepping up their game.

God forbid a 9 year old have a 40mph fastball. I know that this is an isolated situation, but it seems that the philosophy that dictated these attitudes and actions are visible in many other areas - business, government, schools, and churches. This philosophy causes us to seek ways to be accommodated or graded on a curve instead of seeking ways to improve. Did these same people and those who are like minded seek to have Michael Phelps banned from swimming in the Olympics?

If this type of thinking continues, it will not be long before we don’t have anything great to celebrate. Our best - gifted by God, mind you - will be muted and our average will be deemed great.

Ask any coach who he wants on the field when the game is on the line and he will answer, “my best players”. Ask any CEO who he wants in the room when a huge deal hangs in the balance and he will answer, “my best players”. Ask any competent leader who he or she wants involved in the most crucial situations and they will always answer, “my best players”.

If you are in ministry the situation is crucial EVERY Sunday because for each person that walks into your church the game is on the line and a huge deal hangs in the balance. Any of us who are in leadership have a responsibility to play our best. I’m not just referring back my last post where I suggest that we are always supposed to put forth our best effort. I am also talking about playing our best… players.

Now, let me be as transparent as I know how to be. My tendency each week is to be alright with “that’s not too bad” instead of “that is our best”. My tendency is to put more weight on someone’s effort level instead of their execution quality. My tendency is try to find the one reason I should allow something to stay a part of the service (because of all the work that went into it) as opposed to quickly eliminating it because it doesn’t work as we had hoped.

I used to believe that tendency was a good thing. I told myself I was having a positive attitude or that I was supporting my team. Now, I believe that tendency is wrong and I may even go as far to say that it is sin.

Hebrews 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Those of us in leadership love the first and last sentence… we love them so much we might skip over the middle one. Unfortunately, God does not. He adds the little phrase, “must give an account”. An account for what you might ask? I believe the account will be for the way we lead the people AND the situations we have authority over.

If all of this is true (and I believe that it is) then I am responsible for playing my best AND playing my best.

Does this mean that you should never give someone who is untested a try or never take a chance on something when the outcome is risky? NO. It simply means that when you take the chance on the person or the situation - as much as it depends upon you - you can say with integrity that you have played your best AND played your best. In most cases, though, we’re not faced with really taking chances on people or elements… we simply have to be honest in our evaluation of the person or the situation and be bold enough to do what is best… by playing our best.

I am learning that the stakes are too high to put someone’s feelings at the forefront of my decisions. I am learning that the stakes are too high to compromise the effectiveness of the most important message this world will ever hear by shrinking back from tough conversations. I am learning that the stakes are too high to put (or leave) someone in a ministry role (staff or volunteer) that they love but cannot execute with effectiveness.

When everything is said and done, we all will stand before our maker and have to answer the question “Did you play your best?” If you are a leader, I believe, you will face a follow up question, “Did you play your best?”