Many fathers think of themselves as coaches, guiding their sons and daughters to academic and athletic success. I’m all in favor of hoping your child succeeds. But if you really want to be a great dad, especially in today’s society, focus on leading instead of coaching.
Many fathers think of themselves as coaches, guiding their sons and daughters to academic and athletic success. I’m all in favor of hoping your child succeeds. But if you really want to be a great dad, especially in today’s society, focus on leading instead of coaching.
There’s a big difference between a coach and a leader. Coaches can teach skills and encourage their execution, but it’s a leader who brings vision, which is another way of saying a moral framework for how life is to be lived.
There’s a big difference between a coach and a leader. Coaches can teach skills and encourage their execution, but it’s a leader who brings vision, which is another way of saying a moral framework for how life is to be lived.
Moral leadership relies on moral courage, which means having the intestinal fortitude to do, say, and believe what you know to be right. That sense of right and wrong comes from a well-formed conscience—a conscience that doesn’t make up its own rules but that conforms itself to eternal truth.
Fathers, you’re raising kids during a difficult era: the era of social media. This is bad news for your kids and bad news for you. There is an entire world online trying to tell your kid what is right, what is good, what is cool and what is not. It’s up to you, dads, to hold strong to your convictions and teach your kids what is actually good and what is actually right.
It’s up to you, dads, to hold strong to your convictions and teach your kids what is actually good and what is actually right.
This is bad news for you too because it also is affecting adults. Our phones are a constant temptation. It is easier to look at them than it is to connect with our kids or have a hard, but needed, conversation with them. Think about all of the families you see when you’re out to eat. How many of the dads are looking at their phones? My guess is most of them.