Why Real Leaders Don’t Hide in the Bleachers

At 6' 5" about 300lbs I'm often asked if I played sports. My answer is regrettably … no.

But at 10 years old, my son is sizing up to be a chip of the ol block as it were. Only he is playing sports.

My 13 year old is my artsy fartsy and loves theater.

My 7 year old loves gynmastics.

I'm committed to giving them what I wasn't able to have.

I'm experiencing something incredible with my children. But I'm learning some crazy truths.

I've known that youth sports and activities run on volunteers.

But there is a MASSIVE shortage. Not just bodies—but leaders.

Good leaders.

We need them more than ever.

Yet, if you’ve ever spent time on a ball field, in a school gym, or at a community league signup table, you’ll know the familiar faces. The enthusiastic ones who show up no matter what.

But you've probably noticed how rare truly great leadership is.

There are always plenty who’ll fill a role when asked, but the number who turn “volunteer” into “mentor,” “role model,” or “community changer” is vanishingly small.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth:

Our communities desperately need good leaders, and we’re too often satisfied with available instead of exceptional.

If you run a business, you stand at a unique crossroads—

one that offers shameful amounts of leverage for good.

You have resources, relationships, and, most importantly, whether you realize it or not, you have influence.

Most of us—maybe you, too—feel stuck in the frantic, day-to-day hustle. Chasing quarterly goals, wrangling with numbers that appear important on a spreadsheet but feel arbitrary in the grand scheme. Maybe you got into business dreaming of freedom, the chance to “make a difference,” or at least to leave things a little better than you found them. But somewhere along the way, an endless stream of problems and metrics hijacked your calendar.

Ask yourself: When was the last time you thought about the intangible impact your business could have, not just the books? Not just for you, or your customers, but for the next generation coming up behind you?

Your Business Is Already Making an Impact—Good or Bad

Let me level with you:

If you own a business and you’re so stuck in your business that you never use it to create positive generational impact…well, you are by default creating the opposite. Negative generational impact isn’t just possible—

it’s the default.

Why?

Because in every community, there is always a need: trust, safe places, opportunities, hope.

If you’re not the positive force, the vacuum will be filled.

And in youth sports, in non-profits, in service organizations—across the entire fabric of your community—it’s so easy to assume “someone else will.”

But someone else won’t.

Not always.

Not enough.

Our silence, our busy-ness, our focus on ambiguous internal goals comes at a cost measured in lost seasons, missed chances, empty stands, and kids who lose out on more than a game.

More Than Just a Sponsor—What Real Leadership Looks Like

If you own or run a business, you’re no stranger to managing risk, solving problems, and thinking about the future.

But here’s a crucial truth: left alone, things have a way of falling apart.

Teams lose momentum after a tough loss, enthusiasm fades when no one steps up, and community energy stalls if everyone assumes someone else will lead.

It takes real, ongoing commitment to pull things—and people—together.

Community doesn’t run on autopilot.

Neither does character.

The positive culture you see at the local league or nonprofit?

That’s built by people who consistently show up, repaint the lines after it rains, volunteer for the tough shifts, or make sure every kid feels part of the team.

We often settle for believing that cutting a check or putting a logo on a uniform is enough. That’s the safe option—no one criticizes you for sponsoring a team from a distance. It’s easy to blend in, to keep things moving quietly behind the scenes, to avoid standing out or taking a real risk.

But does that really serve our communities? Is that what our teams and our kids remember? The temptation to look for “safe bets” is real—to hang back, fill a slot, or offer support, but never actually own the outcome.

True leadership, the kind that makes a difference to the next generation, always involves a little risk. It requires showing up—not just in name, but in presence and action. Sometimes it means running the practice instead of just sponsoring it, rallying volunteers from the front of the room, or simply listening when a kid needs attention, not instruction.

It's not about following the path of least resistance or doing what everyone else has always done. It’s about stepping into the space where you’re needed most. It’s putting your reputation, your creativity, and your passion to work for the good of others—setting an example and a standard that others can see and follow.

That’s what distinguishes the real leaders from the silent sponsors. That’s what your community—and the next generation—will remember.

Planting Trees You’ll Never Sit Under

There’s another saying: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” This applies to so much more than landscaping.

Twenty years from now, the next generation of community leaders—business owners, coaches, non-profit directors—will be the kids you see on those fields today. Think about the legacy of your business. Are you building something that gives, not just takes? Are you showing up in a way that makes it easier for the next kid, the next volunteer, the next struggling parent?

If your business feels too busy for this—too consumed with surviving to care about thriving—consider that maybe, just maybe, your priorities have drifted. Your community needs you, not someday but now.

Moving From Stuck to Impact

Let’s stop hiding in the bleachers.

Let’s ditch the illusion that “someone else will.”

Let’s use our positions, our platforms, our hard-earned experience to restore more than structures and revenue.

Let’s restore community by leading where it’s needed most—on the fields, in the boards of small non-profits, across all those humble organizations that knit society together.

Because when we show up—not just as business owners, but as leaders—we don’t just impact numbers on a spreadsheet.

We change lives, one season, one Saturday morning, one kid at a time.

The time to plant that tree, to step up, to reclaim your role as a leader in your family and in your community, is right now.