ChristianWeek

I confess that I have disliked commissioner Gary Bettman from the beginning of his tenure. He’s a basketball guy, not a hockey guy. At most of his press conferences and interviews it was hard to tell if he had a personality, never mind an intelligent thought in his head.

Nonetheless, as I watched Bettman’s February press conference announcing the official cancellation of the NHL season, he actually convinced me for the first time that the owners were being reasonable in their expectations. Why? I don’t know, totally. But I think one of the reasons is that he stuck to his guns, no matter how unpopular.

Bettman and the owners delivered a consistent message from the beginning of the lockout and they did not move from their stance. The league needed a salary cap and there was not going to be hockey without it. They needed a new system, not a both-sides-meet-in-the-middle and we’ll-make-a-deal-that-looks-nice approach.

Of course, as a Canadian, that’s probably why I couldn’t stand him. He did not want to meet in the middle. How very un-Canadian. But because he stood his ground throughout the whole “negotiating” process—if you can really call it that—the owners won and got their salary cap.

There are times when Christian leaders will need to hold their ground in order to accomplish a long-term God-given ministry objective. This is true even when it hurts, when most of the world disagrees and thinks you are being unkind, unreasonable, un-everything. Leaders take the heat when people disagree—possibly in very un-Christ-like ways. But Christian leadership is not a popularity contest; it is a call under God to do what is right for the furtherance of His Kingdom and purposes.

Following naturally from the first leadership principle, Bettman also modeled the principle of concentrating on the essentials and debating the details. Most initial evaluations of the NHL’s new collective bargaining agreement contend that the owners won this “negotiation.” The primary reason is because they knew what hill they would die on.

Arguably the greatest failure of the NHL Players’ Association (NHLPA) was their willingness in February to agree to a salary cap to save the 2004-2005 season. Once the players “caved” on that previously non-negotiable issue, it was just a matter of time before the owners put the crunch on. Though the players gained various improvements on concerns like basic salary and free agency, the owners stood firm on the salary cap.

Effective leaders need to understand the core issue of a situation and stay focused on achieving that central objective. If finances are an issue, the numbers may simply be a symptom of an underlying value the leader is not willing to move on. A leader may need to make seemingly large compromises in order to keep the crucial, foundational concern intact.

Obviously Christian leaders should not compromise on biblical principles. But the leader who holds unflinchingly to every point of a plan, instead of focusing on the key goal, will find the truth of the phrase “the devil’s in the details.”

Be the voice

On the other side of the hockey fence, recently resigned NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow made at least two crucial mistakes.

First, Goodenow was not the voice of the NHLPA in this “negotiation” (again, if you can really call it a negotiation is another question!). Ted Saskin was regularly updating the media and key player reps such as Trevor Linden were also speaking with the press intermittently.

Perhaps it was because Goodenow did not want to be painted as the bad guy. Perhaps Goodenow didn’t want the personality clash between him and Bettman to become an issue. And at his resignation press conference Goodenow also revealed that his mother’s illness and recent passing had been weighing heavily on him.

But the bottom line is this: with multiple voices speaking publicly on behalf of the players, along with cacophony of individual players airing their views, the NHLPA message was so watered down that no one was listening. As the lockout progressed and the players’ frustrations and divergence of opinions mounted, the solidarity that the players showed in 1994 faded. The multiplicity of voices did not help to present a united front.

Leaders need to build a team around them and allow those with specific expertise to give their opinions and remarks when warranted. However, on a major organizational issue—whether in business, education, church or parachurch ministry—the leader needs to be the voice of the organization.

Humility is better than being humbled

Goodenow’s second mistake was that he inaccurately assessed the need for the NHLPA to regroup. While the players’ association did not agree with the owner’s profit and loss statements, most analysts recognized that at some point the two sides must get together and come to an agreement on the actual dollars of the business if they ever hoped to reach a reasonable deal. And as mentioned earlier, as the lockout progressed, players felt increasingly free to share their differing perspectives.

A leader knows when to gather the troops, admit they’re going to lose something they really didn’t want to, bite the bullet and start again.

When Goodenow and the NHLPA were willing to consider the salary cap in February in order to save the season, their chance of “winning” ended. When the sides finally got back to the table, after a few weeks of crying over no season, it was obvious that the amount of the salary cap was all that was under discussion.

In the same way, there are times in an organization’s development when the better part of valour and wisdom is to call the players together and admit you messed up, overestimated revenue projections, bit off more than you could chew—whatever cliché you want to pull out. Refusing to admit mistakes and continuing to fight against them does not build anyone’s confidence and erodes a leader’s credibility in many areas, not just the area in which the error occurred.

For Christian leaders, a humble spirit that is willing to admit mistakes or confess sin demonstrates the character of Christ.

Be honest

The most frustrating part of the whole NHL lockout for fans was that the NHL and NHLPA continued to tell us they were negotiating when, in fact, they were doing nothing vaguely resembling negotiating. Until about mid-May, the best the two sides were doing was sitting in the same room yelling “No!” at each other. The fact that a deal, even if it was a 500-plus page document, was put together in a matter of six weeks begs the question as to why it took 300-plus days to get it done. (They knew when the previous deal expired!)

Though the teams are now back on the ice, there is significant skepticism about if and when the fans will return, especially in cities where enthusiasts are not hockey fanatics like those in New York, Chicago, Detroit and the six Canadian cities that have franchises. Hockey fans were annoyed that allegedly mature adults could not sit down, look at both sides of the argument, agree on which financial statements were accurate and then make a negotiated deal.

When fans don’t come back it will not be because hockey has too much violence, too much clutching-and-grabbing or not enough scoring, but because players and owners lied to them for a year.

If a leader needs to make changes that are potentially hurtful, but necessary for the ministry’s continued vitality, they should do so. Don’t try to convince people it is not painful when it really does hurt. Don’t try to persuade people the bottom line is actually quite good even though financial statements have more red than black.

Lay out the facts clearly and honestly. Even if it is a situation of the proverbial “personality clash,” say so politely. Bettman and Goodenow did not help their respective credibility one iota at press conferences by sniping and accusing the other side of being greedy, selfish, unreasonable and so on but then insisting “there was no personal resentment.” There had to be some personal frustrations between the two men unless they had absolutely no human feelings at all.

When the 2005-2006 NHL season began October 5, I admit I was right there, salivating over hockey’s return. However, the embarrassment of the lockout is not that fans were deprived of watching overpaid athletes perform at a high level, but that presumably smart people demonstrated such poor leadership.

Christian leaders can learn from the lockout and instead model what it means to follow the leader, Jesus Christ.

Steven C. Ibbotson is completing his doctor of philosophy in leadership studies at Gonzaga University and teaches at Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alberta.