Leadership in Season of Life:
Leadership in the book takes many different forms. However, the main character Joe Ehrmann exhibits excellent leadership skills. He is a former football player who in his playing days was a star who is an excellent leader. The plot of the book follows the story of two old friends separated for almost a quarter century. The two friends are Jeffrey Marx and Joe Ehrmann. When the two finally reunite, Jeffrey Marx realizes that he can learn a lot from Joe’s leadership. This is mainly because Joe proves that he is a great leader who coaches a high school football team as well as running a club that teaches boys how to be men. Due to his excellent football skills, he decides to volunteer at Gilman high school as a coach (Marx, 2004). He leads his players by teaching them how to attack, defend, punish, as well as love. He plays mentor as well as motivator to his students. In the story, Jeffery renews his friendship with Joe after a long separation and as he watches Joe work, he is taken aback. This is mainly because the players on football field had been taught by Joe to say, “I love you” on the football pitch. This is a critical lesson that Joe through his leadership has taught his players (Marx, 2004).
Despite leadership in football, he is more passionate about teaching young men about the meaning and purpose of life. He runs a program where he teaches young men about the meaning of life. The program is called Building Men for others and it is aimed at trying to teach young boys to be men who are of substance in society (Marx, 2004). He leads the boys by teaching them that is important for real men to enter a meaningful relationship and to be able to maintain it. He is an ordained priest who teaches the boys the need of empathy, integrity, as well as offering service to others. He also leads them towards making the right choices in life, which will lead to better lives.
The leadership implications around the central figures in the story are far reaching. Through his leadership, Joe helps boys to overcome notions of false masculinity long supported by society. False masculinity as portrayed by society is a man’s athletic, sexual, and financial ability. This implies that he is able to change the thoughts of many boys who have grown up in a society that has created false notions of masculinity. This is mainly because he teaches the boys that a real man needs to love and be in fruitful relationship. On the other hand, Joe’s leadership skills helped Jeffrey create a better relationship with his father (Marx, 2004).
The lesson learnt from the book in terms of groups, teams, larger organizations, leadership, and followership is that leadership can be a powerful tool that can be used to influence a group into a certain way of thinking. This is mainly because the leadership exhibited by Joe in the book clearly inspires others to be better members of society. In addition, from the book one is able to learn what it means to be a real man. This is mainly because Joe insists on teaching young boys on being a real man. The main lesson for this is that real men need to love as well as foster excellent relationships.
Reference:
Marx, J. (2004). Season of life: A football star, a boy, a journey to manhood. New York: Simon & Schuster.
