I want to give you a short chain today that shows you, as a dad, what you should be doing. The chain looks like this:
Provide ------>Lead -------> Create
Provide: To deliver; to give
What are you delivering/ giving to your family?
Leadership, Time, Confidence, Money—any trait is something you can provide.
Leadership: The act of heading or directing a group of people
Great football coaches are great leaders. Who are some other types of people who you think are great leaders? Can all men be leaders? Do you have to be a “natural” leader to lead? We can all emulate the good traits we see in different people. Fatherhood is leadership.
Create Culture: a culture is the beliefs, thinking, and values of life for a group of people.
Every home has a culture. Is yours intentional? Just as every coach is in charge of the team’s culture, so dads must create the culture they want for the home. Brainstorm some words that come to mind or some ideas of what you want your culture to be:
Write it down:
My family culture will be _______________________________________
After you’ve brainstormed and have clear direction, you must get your family on board. Allow them to be involved with helping to define what your culture is going to be. Ask, “What would you want people to say about us?” Discuss and come to agreement. Make a family shield, song, or motto to make it official. Get something written up and even framed on the wall so everyone can always see it.
In order to establish your culture, you will need to make a more specific game plan—like a blueprint before construction. Things to consider discussing in detail with your spouse, then with the kids is how your culture will be practically lived out in daily life with such things as treatment of one another, school requirements, manners, serving, responsibilities, consequences, rewards, taking care of their things, respect, freedoms, exercise. What you are doing here is creating rules, needs, and wants to make your culture happen.
Dads must provide—part of providing is giving leadership. To lead means you need to create a culture.