by Eddie Pipkin

Golfer Scottie Scheffler won The Masters in Augusta, Georgia this past weekend, securing his reign as the current top golfer in the world and taking home a cool $3.5 million.  The unflappable Scheffler conquered the most famous of golf tournaments by a whopping four strokes, his second win in there in three years, on a weekend when he had vowed to walk away from the action if his very pregnant wife went into labor.  Those details made it all the more inspiring when he sealed the deal with a generous and classy gesture on his way to don the famed Green Jacket.  He let his caddie, Ted Scott, lead the way.  We should all remember to share the credit so unselfishly when our moment of glory comes.

Caddies play a big role in supporting the play of professional golfers.  They are on-the-spot coaches, consultants, and sports psychologists, helping players evaluate conditions, make shot selections, plot strategy, and navigate the pressures of setbacks.

Scheffler has had plenty to say about the value of Scott’s partnership, as evidenced by this article at Golf.com: “Scottie Scheffler’s unselfish gesture steals post-Masters win celebration”:

Scheffler and Scott have a special relationship, and the former has often credited the latter for keeping his emotions in check.

“What’s really unique to Teddy is his personality; he’s totally unfazed,” Scheffler told GOLF.com during a 2022 interview. “I remember one moment in Phoenix that we had, I think it was Thursday. I got this horrendous break in a bunker. I had a really easy bunker shot that would have been easy, but my ball was in like a hole. And so it went from being a cake shot to a really, really hard shot. And I somehow pulled off this amazing shot to nip it and land it on the fringe to trickle down to the hole, because I couldn’t get any height on it because I was sitting so down low in this hole. I hit this amazing shot and it lands on the fringe right where I want to and then goes into a sprinkler head and just spins around.

“Instead of having a putt from a foot, I’ve got a 12-footer. And I’m freaking out like, ‘How could this happen?’ And he’s standing up on the green, literally laughing at me. And I’m sitting there looking at him like, ‘Dude, come on, man.’ But then he just snaps me out of the frustration really quickly. Most caddies I don’t think would do that. Like, they don’t have the guts to laugh at their player when something like that is happening. And, you know, he just keeps things really light. And we talk through all of our shots on the golf course. There’s pretty much never a shot that I don’t discuss with him.”

I hope reading that account of the way those two work together made you think of someone on your own team, someone who supports you in that way, someone who can be honest with you, maybe even laugh at you if you need it.  Someone who makes you better.

If not, you need people like that surrounding you.  People whose focus is using their gifts to help you leverage yours (even as you are giving them unique opportunities to leverage theirs).

If you are blessed to have people like that on your team, take every opportunity to let them know they are appreciated, that you value the way they help you achieve success.

By one way of thinking, the caddie, Scott, was just doing his job.  It’s not a volunteer gig.  He gets paid – and in this case he gets paid a lot – since the standard caddie reimbursement is 10% of the prize money totals on top of a standard retainer and oftentimes a base salary, Scott has probably already banked no less than $1.5 million this year as Scheffler has blazed a winning trail on the PGA Tour.  You might argue that no extra shout-outs or attaboys are required.  But Scheffler doesn’t see it that way.  He expresses his gratitude in every way possible, knowing that sometimes there are even more important things than money.

For most of us working in ministry, we wish we could proclaim our appreciation for key support people with gratuitous cash!  If only.  But in a world of tight budgets and constrained compensation, it’s even more important to be generous with sharing the credit.

Let’s be honest.  We could not do half of what we do without stellar people supporting us.  And even though there are many supporters along the way who are worthy of recognition, there are some few who truly stand out as helping us realize our dreams.  The contributions of these people should be memorably and vociferously commemorated.  Be sure they know what they mean to you.  And be sure others know what they mean to you, too.

Here are some ways we should routinely acknowledge the ministry partners who help us shine:

  • Publicly acknowledge their contributions, utilizing all of the communications platforms available to us.
  • Defer to others when it comes to celebrations, just like Scottie Scheffler did. Given the opportunity, allow others to be celebrated first.  Turn observations about your own success and prowess into acknowledgements of others and their contributions.
  • Reward them in special ways if it is within our power – it doesn’t always have to be something ostentatious – small gestures can punch above their weight if they indicate we are paying attention to what’s important to people.
  • Give credit for specific contributions. Move beyond the generic thanks that so often mark these acknowledgements.  Let people know exactly what they did to make a difference and celebrate these specific contributions publicly.
  • Increase responsibilities based on past performance. If someone is doing a great job, give them more to do in ways that energize and motivate them.  They’ve earned it.
  • Ask key players how they think that can be even better at what they do and provide them with resources and time to build skills and competencies.

Don’t just gloss over the observations in today’s blog and make a mental note to do these things in the future.  I challenge you to take a few moments today to reach out to at least one person these observations brought to mind and give that person a call, or send them a text, or email naming a specific reason you are grateful for them; then beyond that, reinforce that action with a public approbation of their efforts, distributed to the larger team, leadership, or the general public through a social media post.

Building such a culture of private and public gratitude is a discipline of humility that makes us better leaders (and humans) and builds supportive teams that work together with joy.

Feel free to share your own observations and comments below!