Your Leadership is the Power of the 12th Man

I was out of town this weekend enjoying time with our son. He received his college class ring – an Aggie Ring! Then on Saturday we enjoyed going to a college football game! It was the A&M vs. FIU. I’ll be truthful with you. I’m football fan but I really do not know much about the basics of the game. But I do know that if my team has the ball I need to cheer them on!

At one point, A&M was VERY behind in score against this team that was suppose to be an easy win. It was at the darkest hour, I learned about the “Power of the 12th Man.”

You see, the tradition of the 12th Man started in 1922 when an ex-player was asked to be on the sidelines “ready and able” because the Aggie team was close to not having enough players to play on the field. While the player was never needed, it began a tradition. The Aggie Fans would stand in the stands and cheer on the team, in honor of the player that was also standing to be ready in the call of duty.

But there is another aspect of the 12th Man that I witnessed. One that gave me goose bumps, and a sore throat!

We were behind. Dreadfully behind. It was 6 to 6 at the end of the half time. And A&M had made some terrible mistakes. The team came back from half time and by the end of the 3rd quarter it was 20 – 6, THEIR favor.

FIU was getting the ball, and then all of a sudden the yell leaders ran around the stadium encouraging everyone in the stand to yell the standard “war cry holler” (I’m sure there is the official Aggie name for this shout, but I can’t remember it). Then the Aggie team began motioning for us to yell LOUDER. And we DID. We yelled so loud and so long that the other team could not hear their plays or the counts to hike the ball. We got the ball back, and we SCORED. We repeated this scenario over and over. Every time they got the ball we yelled and shouted and beat the bleachers creating such a ruckus that the other team couldn’t make their plays. And we scored and scored until the final score in the 4th quarter was 27 -20!

The power of the 12th Man.

I want to encourage you to as leaders to utilize the power of the 12th Man to enable and help your team to grow! Make that noise of encouragement for your team. There will be outside enemies trying to attack your team. Enemies of fears, self-doubt, anxiety and discouragement are the greatest enemies your business partners have. Enemies of feeling alone in this “how do I build my business”.

Be a 12th Man Leader and CHEER them on! Help them develop themselves in order to defeat these enemies!

Remember how we cheered ever play when the ENEMY had the ball?

It takes the same type of daily cheering for your leaders. Instill in them the importance of daily development. I can’t communicate enough how important daily development is. The reading of 10 pages of a book and listening to 30 minutes of training in their business development is crucial!

Your positive cheering and the daily positive reinforcement they receive will help them receive the Spirit of the 12th Man they need in their lives to defeat the enemies that would try to hinder them from building the business they dream of and desire!

Cheer On!
Whoop!