Last week while we were in Las Vegas Merlyn and I decided to enjoy a bit of the great outdoors.  This is not uncommon.  Sight seeing often involves a bit of adventure for us.

On this trip we opted to tackle Turtlehead Peak at Red Rock Canyon.  Turtlehead Peak is a 2,000 foot mountain that you ascend at a pretty steep grade.  We had our work cut out for us in the triple digit temperatures, but we made it and enjoyed the beautiful view.

As I was climbing this peak I got to thinking about how at ease I was because I could clearly see my destination.  I haven’t spent much time in the West and so I found myself surprised by the barrenness of the dessert.  I’ve often heard that westerners get claustrophobic when they come to the South because everything is lush and hilly.  They can’t see where they need to go and it drives them crazy.  Growing up in the Midwest and spending most of my life in the South, I’m pretty accustomed to the foliage and a run through the lush, hilly parks around Nashville is soothing to me.

So as I’m processing this, attempting to distract myself from the mountain in front of me and the fact that I don’t appear to be getting to my destination as quickly as I’d hoped, I of course began to make my parallels to leadership.  You see in this case I was following along behind my husband and never questioned his leadership or direction.  I’d like to say that I never question his leadership and direction but, well… um… I’d be lying. Frankly, I’m not a good follower.  I like to be confident the leader knows where he is going and I’m not so quick to trust if I can’t see the destination for myself.  In this case, I could clearly see that the leader was on the right track.  Rewind to a Catron adventure a couple of years ago when we were lost in the woods of Tennessee and you wouldn’t have seen such a calm, compliant follower.

This whole deal got me thinking about how well I really follow the leaders in my life.  Yeah, it’s easy for me to get on board when I see a clear outcome and see the benefits in it for me, but how well do I follow and trust the vision/direction when the destination is not quite as clear?

I think there is a lesson in this for both the leader and the follower:

As the leader, what can you do to make the destination more clear for your team? Sure you might not be able to completely clear the way, remove all the obstacles and give a clear line of site, but perhaps you can articulate the path a little more clearly.

And as the follower, how can you develop greater trust and confidence in your leader? Do you need to ask a few more questions?  Can you talk more about what lies ahead?  Can you trust even when you can’t see?

I’ve become a little obsessed. Every night this week I’ve been watching highlights and matches from the opening week of Wimbledon.  And you can bet I’ll be glued to it this week too.  In fact I just discovered the Wimbledon iphone app.  Now I’ll have scores and highlights at my finger tips.  Good thing it’s a short week at work…

I’ve always been a fan of tennis but since I started taking lessons a year ago, my obsession has grown.  The more I understand about the game, the more appreciation and respect I have for the players and what it takes to be the leaders of the sport.

Isn’t this true about other areas of life?

The more we know and understand about someone else’s “game” – their role, responsibilities, challenges, etc - the more compassion we have and the greater our appreciation is for their accomplishments.

As someone who aspires to be a great leader, I find myself more and more sympathetic to other leaders as I learn and grow in my leadership.  I can remember being in my early 20’s and questioning the decisions and actions of my leaders.  Only now being in a similar role with greater responsibilities do I truly understand the pressure of the game they were in.

I could elaborate on this thought, but I won’t for now.  There’s another match for me to watch.

But seriously, where in life have you developed more respect and compassion for someone else because you gained a greater understanding of what it takes to be in their shoes?

If you watched the French Open Men’s Final yesterday, you likely saw the crazy fan that leaped over the stands and onto the courts to taunt Roger Federer.  As a spectator it’s easy to watch that, kind of chuckle and then cheer as security tackled him and hauled him off the court.  But I couldn’t help but put myself in Roger’s shoes.  Here I am playing the match of my life and some lunatic springs out on the court after me.  I don’t know about you, but I’m not so sure I would have acted so cool, and collected myself so quickly.

The Power of Focus – it’s what separates the winners from the losers, the good from the great.  Focus can make or break you.

This little episode from yesterday’s match reminded me of how easily I get distracted by the taunts, the criticism, the temptations and the distractions in my life.  There are so many things that are vying to pull me away from the calling and mission God has given me.  How am I reacting to these distractions?  Can I shake it off and refocus on “my game” or do I throw in the towel and give up the match?

How about you?  What’s distracting you from your calling or purpose?

TENNIS!  (you thought I was going to say Roger, didn’t you?)

I’ve developed a true love for this sport!  I’ve been a casual fan for years, ever since I played one year of high school tennis.  I had never picked up a racket, but my best friend convinced me to join the team and so I gave it a shot.  Admittedly, I think I kind of liked the idea of a sport I could play in a skirt!

A couple of months ago I decided I wanted to get serious about really learning to play so I asked a dear friend for some recommendations on taking lessons.  The next thing I know I’m hooked up with one of the best pros in Nashville and taking lessons nearly every Saturday!  (Dear Friend, you know who you are… thank you!)

So now that I’m learning the fundamentals and getting some game, I’ve found that I’m becoming the sports fanatic in our house (and those of you that know my husband know that this is no small thing!)  I’ve been glued to the US Open for the last couple of weeks and enjoyed watching the men’s final tonight between Roger Federer and Andy Murray.  So happy about the win for Federer, but honestly I was hoping for a bit livelier match.

The official season may be ending, but watch out – I’ll still be hitting the courts!

What’s your sports obsession?