LEADERSHIP LESSONS FROM SEASBISCUIT

Last night I spent a couple of hours with some guys kicking around leadership lessons from the movie Seabiscuit. Ken Smith, one of the members of our leadership team at Christ Community Church, did a masterful job of facilitating our discussion around three critical elements of servant leadership: caring about people; building community; and enabling others to succeed.

Seabiscuit, a past Academy Award nominee for Picture of the Year, is a heart moving story of triumph and perseverance set during the Great Depression of the 1930's. It is centered around a horse, but it's much more than a horse story (for a great summary of the film check out the review at http://hollywoodjesus.com/seabiscuit.htm).

One of my favorite scenes in the film is Charles Howard's (Jeff Bridges) first encounter with Tom Smith (Chris Cooper). Smith is a loner, an old school kind of guy who much prefers the wide open prairies to social parties. Smith is focusing his attention on an injured horse and Howard poses the question, "Why are you fixing him?" "Because I can," replied Smith. "Every horse is good for something...You don't just throw away a life because he's banged up a little."

I love that line (and it becomes the overarching theme of the film): "You don't throw away a whole life, just because he's banged up a little." Think about the implications. Life bangs us all up; we all carry around wounds from the past. Some are self inflicted. And we all contribute to the woundedness of others. Our culture is quick to throw people away. Signs of weakness and brokenness won't get you far in our "You're Fired" culture.

What would life be like in a community that cared deeply for people, a community that lived with intentionality and purpose - a community that made the decision that it would be the kind of place that doesn't throw people away, but instead cares for, loves, and nurtures the banged up, the wounded and the broken?

This may seem like pie in the sky dreaming (or as one guy said it's "swimming upstream"). Quite frankly, it is; it is counter cultural. But if we can learn anything from a horse story, it's this: sowing the seeds of care and love can change your world, my world, and our world.