After finishing up my college baseball career, I’m now in my first year in the business world. That means that this upcoming spring will be the first time I won’t be suiting up to hit the diamond (sad day).

Looking back on my four years of college ball, one of the biggest lessons I learned was about leadership. I always thought that leaders had to be guys who were loud, well-liked, in control and who could make people do certain things. While leaders do need to be able to take control, through baseball, I learned that the best way to lead is not to be forceful, but to serve and go out of your way to do things completely unexpected of you.

Coaches want to tell their athletes exactly what needs to be dsone and have confidence they’ll do it. Athletes want coaches to be direct. They want to know exactly what play to run. They don’t want surprises. Knowing exactly what is expected is how athletes focus on what they have to do.

David gave Solomon this kind of direction in 1 Kings. David knew his time on earth was almost up. He knew Solomon would need to focus in order to prepare for what was coming. David gave Solomon very direct expectations for his life.

We can take these same directions and apply them to our lives today. When we take “Coach” David’s to-do list and apply it to our lives, we will have the focus we need to succeed in the game of life.