Mark Driscoll, over at the Resurgence blog, has been providing some great leadership lessons from baseball. For the rest of the world (!), here are some lessons I’ve noticed during the greatest sporting event ever, the FIFA World Cup. Some of the lessons from soccer overlap with those from baseball because, hey, some things transfer well.

Leadership is a Team Sport

In baseball, one person scores pretty regularly. They are called home runs. It’s one on one (batter vs. pitcher), and those odds are pretty good. No team involvement needed for a run; the only necessary thing is to capitalize on an opportunity (namely a bad pitch). However, in soccer this rarely, if ever happens. Unless the goalie scores on a goal kick, there is a team effort involved in seizing opportunity. Soccer is the premier team sport. Sure there are ‘names’ in soccer, even names that stand above all the rest (Pele, anyone?), but those names are nobodies without someone defending the goal, someone moving the ball up the field, and someone delivering a beautiful cross from the corner. Nearly every goal in soccer is a team effort, and without a team, it’s 11 on 1 for 90 minutes. I’m not one for those odds. What does this mean for leadership? You can’t do it alone. Surround yourself with forwards, midfielders, and defenders who know their role in accomplishing the overall mission. (more…)

This past Sunday at 7:21 & 7:36 in the morning, my wife gave birth to two beautiful baby girls: Ava Grace & Emma Ryleigh. Considering that the story started last Wednesday, there’s a lot of details in between. This is the second part of the story (out of three). If you missed the first part, catch it here.

Saturday, June 12th

8:00am We wake up and begin to move to the Labor & Delivery (L&D) room where our journey to parenthood would begin. The room is much nicer than the motel feeling at 1 West, and we move in and get started soon after with the induction process.

9:30am Our doctor from Greenville OB/GYN has arrived, and inserted what is called an “Easy Cath”, which basically begins the process of tricking the uterus into dilation and contraction. From here on out, it’s mainly just a waiting game. We have plenty of visitors during this time, mainly family, that helps the time go by, since we’re waiting until well after lunch to begin the next step.

2:00pm Our doctor tries to break Miranda’s water artificially. And fails. It hurts bad, from what I hear. Sorry, babe.

4:00pm The next step begins: the administration of oxytocin, the hormone that begins the labor process in female mammals. You have probably heard of the branded version, Pitocin. They begin the IV drip into my wife, who is expecting the worst: immediate full labor contractions. She is thankfully disappointed, although within a couple of hours, she is feeling the contractions get tighter and tighter. Still, she isn’t doubled over in pain, and she takes everything like a champ.

10:00pm Miranda is on IV pain meds now, and our doctor is back to artificially break the water, which she says will speed up and intensify the labor process further. It works, Miranda feels it slightly (but nothing near as bad as the first time), and we wait some more.

This block of time brought to you by Hope Proctor, who stayed with my wife and I at the hospital for 8 hours, massaging her back, talking to her, getting her water, and being an overall awesome person. It was so nice to have a woman there with her. Thanks, Hope! (more…)