Leadership Wednesday 13 - Charlie Weiss Out-schemed by Pride

Earlier this week, Charlie Weiss was fired from his position as head coach of Notre Dame football. Weiss had been the head coach for five years and he began his tenure with two promising seasons. After those first two years, though, Weiss was unable to produce a consistently contending team, which was a disappointment to the vast number of Notre Dame fans, alumni and boosters. Weiss’ inability to produce a winner also stood in stark contrast to the overconfidence and bombast he exuded during his first press conference. During that press conference, Weiss promised that his team would never be out-schemed; he would always have a better game plan than the opposing coach and his staff. His mediocre 35-27 record would suggest otherwise.

It’s easy for leaders to puff their chests and exude overconfidence and bombast. There is a thin line between overconfidence and confidence; the line is just as thin between bombast and self-assurance. Leaders need to have a certain level of confidence and self-assurance or else no one is going to follow them. That confidence needs to be kept in check, though, or it can give way to ego and pride. It’s possible that Weiss’ confidence went unchecked and, when all was said and done, his pride and ego couldn’t translate to wins.

As leaders, how can we keep our pride in check? Here are three ways I’ve found to help keep my pride in check.

Give Praise to Others
Most efforts, whether you’re the leader or not, are team efforts. Without those teams, no matter how great of a leader you are, nothing would get accomplished. Acknowledging the importance of others is a great way to keep pride in check. Let the team members themselves know how vital they are, but also share with others how important the team is. When someone wants to praise you, deflect that praise to the team.

Gratefully Accept Praise and Move On
Sometimes in our leadership we do something worthy of praise. In those instances, when others want to praise you and there’s no team, accept the praise and move on. I get to preach at our church with some regularity and sometimes, after I preach, people come up to tell me that I did a good job. I’m very appreciative that they enjoyed the sermon and felt like they got something out of it. When someone compliments me, I genuinely thank them and then move on. The path to pride is paved with praise that we need to let go.

Honestly Critique yourself
There are people who are always willing to dole out praise and people who are always willing to offer criticism. Sometimes criticism can be constructive but other times it is worthless. We need to learn how to discern between the two, but we also need to learn how to honestly critique ourselves. We need to understand how we can be better leaders; we need to honestly examine areas of growth and address them. Along with critiquing ourselves, though, we should also take time to celebrate the growth we’ve seen.

Obviously, this isn’t a conclusive list. However we keep our pride in check, it is an important endeavor. Proverbs 16:8 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before the fall.” If we want to avoid destruction and a fall from grace, we need to avoid pride. True leadership isn’t built upon ego and pride; it’s built upon service and character. Service and character may not translate to wins either, but at least they won’t leave us with any embarrassing sound bites five years down the road.

What helps you keep your pride in check?