Our front row people are our biggest fans. Their nearness to the action in our lives pushes us forward. They are our rock-solid supporters.
Our Front Row People
Every major sporting arena has a front row, it’s where the athletes find their biggest fans. It’s their closest source to provide the support necessary to compete at the highest level.
Life and leadership unfolds every day In The Arena, a place President Teddy Roosevelt described as “marred by dust and sweat and blood.”
It’s a place where we experience great victories and also great defeats. It can serve as a place of exciting elation, crazy celebration, and powerful praise. It can be a place where frustrations fume, burdens are battled, and discouragement destroys.
To face the highs and lows in the arena of life and leadership, we need our front row people. They are our source of energy and encouragement needed to play the game at our highest level.
I have been fortunate in my journey to have a full front row. People who have provided for me, coached me, mentored me, and invested in me. These people have worn the jerseys of family, friend, coach, pastor, and just genuinely good souls. Without their attendance in my arena, I would not be remotely close to the person or leader that I am today.
Here are a few thoughts on the people who have sat in my front row:
Rain Delays
One thing has proven certain along my journey in life and leadership, there will be rainy seasons. When it rains, it pours. The dreariness of these seasons can be difficult to weather alone, but my front row people have consistently remained in their seat, regardless of the forecast. They never retreat to comfortable cover.
Our front row people come prepared with rain gear. With umbrellas and ponchos in hand, they anticipate inclement weather and are willing to wait out the rain with us. We never have to assume their attendance, they always find a way to show up. No matter how long the rain delay, they will be there until we finish the game.
It’s Expensive
I love attending games at Truist Park watching the Atlanta Braves. While at the game, sometimes I will get on StubHub and look for upgrades. After the first inning, ticket prices typically drop, except for one place…the front row. It always remains expensive.
People pay extraordinary amounts to be closest to the action. There is a cost associated with the closest seats.
For those who have sat in my front row, there has been a cost. The demands of the arena can draw from my time, energy, consistency, and intentionality. It’s the people who are closest to me that make the biggest sacrifice while I perform in the arena of life and leadership. Friends, family, and loyal supporters sacrifice so that I can be who I need to be in the arena.
Our front row people pay a high price for proximity. Being close to us comes at a cost. It’s their selfless sacrifice that allows us to invest in the bigger game taking place. Our success comes from their significance in the stands. Supportive seats can get expensive.
We must never take for granted the expense of those who sit closest to us.
Sustained Applause
I desire to be a good person and a quality leader. It’s taken years in the arena to improve in these areas, but I’m still fighting. There have been bumps and bruises, trips and falls, and glimmers of hope that have encouraged me through it all. Most of all, it’s the sustainable applause of my front row people who have carried me through it all.
As we enter our journeys in life and leadership, applause is abundant. Success carries us towards the top. The wins keep racking up.
The further we go in leadership the more the applause can fade. The successes begin to be accompanied by stumbles. We start to feel the silence of those in the cheap seats. The ones that are just there for the game, not for us.
Our front row people are the first to stand and the last to sit. They cheer us on when we are on top of the world and they cheer us on when our worlds fall apart. Their sustainable applause fuels us forward, no matter our performance in the arena.
Conclusion
People who have filled my front row are filled with love. It’s their genuine joy, the peace that that they provide, extraordinary patience with me, their kindness, consistent dependability, the grace that they give me, and just their overall goodness that keeps them in the front row.
They aren’t fair weather fans, they are season ticket holders to my arena. Time and time again, these people show up in the rainy seasons, no matter the cost, and their applause is always sustained. It never fades.
The arena can feel empty without our front row people . Find good people who fill it up.
