Vision
by Ryan Krzykowski
Coaches are leaders by nature. Or at least we can say that effective coaches are leaders. This shouldn’t be news to any of us, but I’ve been thinking about that concept of leadership again lately and a few questions keep swimming around in my head as I consider the role of a leader/coach.
If I am leading, who is following? If someone, in his/her infinite wisdom, decided it was a good idea to put me in charge of people, where am I leading these people? What is our destination? Have I communicated it? Have I figured it out for myself?
For those who have been tracking along with us at CFC for any length of time, the idea that effective coaches have a purpose and a plan is nothing new. We bang that drum constantly, with no apologies. That idea is at the very core of who we are as a ministry. Helping coaches answer the questions “Why do I coach?” and “How do I define/measure success?”, along with formulating a practical plan to see all that lived out effectively constitutes about 97% of what we do. Our “what?” is pretty clear, and to some degree, so is our “why?” We want to help coaches lead and love others effectively. That’s a huge piece of our “why?”
However, there is another piece of that “why?” that’s a little further out there, and that is easier to lose sight of. It’s the bigger piece, the 30,000 foot view piece of the CFC Vision that we are talking about here. It’s the fact that a coach who understands and effectively lives out his/her purpose will inspire people, young and old alike. A coach who understands and lives out his/her purpose will provide stability and love for others. These coaches will grab hold of people’s hearts. They will be used as instruments to create moments that will be cherished for decades. They will build stronger, healthier people. They will help impressionable young people learn to live selflessly, as they learn the meaning of sacrifice for the good of others. There is literally no limit to the good that can be done, directly and indirectly, by just one coach who serves purposefully.
Now…imagine a city. A city of 2 million or so people. Racially and ethnically diverse. Some very wealthy, others very poor and everywhere in between. A couple million souls, joined together geographically. Many thousands of these people love sports. They play sports, or maybe their children or grandchildren play. They watch, they follow teams, they cheer. About 25,000 of them coach children. They coach my children. Maybe they coach yours too.
These 25,000 women and men are beautifully and uniquely positioned to do unimaginable good in the lives of people, and by extension, in our city. Imagine 25,000 pianos playing different music at the same time. It’s a cacophony. Now imagine those same 25,000 pianos, perfectly tuned, playing the most magnificent concerto together. That’s what can happen in our city when our 25,000 coaches are united in spirit, intentionally using sports as a means to change lives. That’s the Vision of CFC, that’s the biggest piece of our “why?” That’s where our minds and hearts go when we dream about what God is doing in our city. We dream of seeing every coach at every level effectively using sports as a tool of life change, and viewing themselves as one of an entire body of life-changers and world-changers serving in our city.
If you share that dream, if you also see this Vision, join us. Let us know you’re out there. You can begin by submitting a Coaching Purpose Statement here. Thanks for all you do to make this city better. Now let’s multiply these efforts exponentially by encouraging coaches everywhere to lock arms and do this important work together.