Pat Williams - The Paradox of Power: A Transforming View of Leadership

2002 by Pat Williams.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

Scriptures are taken from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.

Warner Books

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.

The Warner Books name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

First eBook Edition: November 2002

ISBN: 978-0-7595-2776-8

To my son, Richie

Now, my son, the Lord be with you,
and may you have success.

1 CHRONICLES 22:11

by Bobby Bowden

Head Football Coach,
Florida State University

W hen I was thirteen years old, America was in the middle of the most deadly war in human historyWorld War II. I spent my thirteenth year flat on my back with rheumatic fever. My two pastimes during that year were radio and reading. I studied military historyparticularly the history of bold military leaders, people who accomplished amazing, audacious things through the people they led. That began a lifelong fascination with the subject of leadership that has carried me through a fifty-season coaching career.

I have found that virtually all the lessons and principles of leadership that apply to war also apply to footballand to life. The leadership principles that achieve great results on the battlefield also achieve great results in a church, in an office, in a classroom, on a football field or basketball court, or anywhere else a leader seeks to reach a goal through people. As author Tim LaHaye wrote, All of us are vulnerable to leadership.

Coaching is leadership. Successful coaching is winning through other people. As a coach, if you dont know how to motivate and inspire other people to win, you lose. My success as a coach, then, is directly proportional to my ability to understand and apply the principles of leadership in everyday situations. The same is true for you in your leadership arena. And thats why you need to read The Paradox of Power by Pat Williams.

Having been a fan of Pats books for many years, I know he and I are alike in a lot of ways. As senior vice president of the Orlando Magic, Pat is a tough competitor. Like me, this fellow Floridian hates to lose. Like me, he is a student of leadership and a student of history. In his new book youll read stories of all my longtime heroes: Washington, Lee, Lincoln, Eisenhower, MacArthur, Patton, and many more.

Flipping through the pages of Pat Williamss new book, I get a tingle of dj vu, a sense of recognition: These are the principles I have lived and coached by for half a century! This stuff is real! This is gritty, realistic, transforming truth!

Like Pat Williams, I have made a lifelong study of leadership. That is what motivated me to write my own book, The Bowden Way. The book you hold in your hands is the culmination of Pats lifelong study and experience with leadershipbut youll notice he doesnt call it The Williams Way. He calls it The Paradox of Power. An equally valid title might be The Jesus Way. Here again, I see a great affinity between myself and Pat Williams, because the seven paradoxes of leadership he teaches in this book come from the words and example of the person I regard as The Greatest Leader Who Ever LivedJesus of Nazareth.

Understand, this is not a religious book. Its not a book just for Christians (though Christians can certainly learn a lot from it). This is a book for leadersall leaders, in any and all leadership arenas.

If you want to be a great leader, shouldnt you learn leadership from the Master? And what else would you call Jesusthe leader who used twelve unschooled and completely unexceptional men to transform the world? Imagine how your team or organization might be transformed if you could learn and apply the leadership secrets of Jesus of Nazareth!

I do a lot of speaking on the subject of leadership, and in my speaking I regularly use stories and principles that come from Pats many books. This new book on leadership is going to be a rich source of ideas for me, and a rich source of insight and inspiration for you.

Pat writes with a teachers heart and a motivators spirit. He loves to tell stories to illustrate his points. Having read all his books, I can assure you that this is his best one yet. Whether you lead on a playing field or a battlefield, in a church sanctuary or in a corner office, you have picked up the right book to enhance your leadership skills.

Im a big Pat Williams fan. After reading this instant classic on leadership, you will be, too.

Tallahassee, Florida

November 2002

by John C. Maxwell

Leadership Coach and
Bestselling Author

O ne of the great paradoxes of leadership is that authentic leaders are also learners, great coaches are also coachable, and great teachers are willing to be taught. Pat Williams is all of the above.

I have read every book on leadership, teamwork, and success that Pat Williams has ever writtenand he has read all of mine. Pat constantly tells me I am his leadership coach. You can imagine how honored I feel to hear that, because I constantly draw inspiration and insight from his writings and example.

As a general manager in the NBA, Pat has served with the Chicago Bulls, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Philadelphia 76ers (who won an NBA championship under his management). Then he became the founding general manager of the Orlando Magic. It can truly be said that the Magic would not exist today without the extraordinary leadership of Pat Williams. So when Pat talks about leadership, leaders listen!

His new book, The Paradox of Power, is clearly the result not only of intensive research, but intense experience in the leadership arena. Pat Williams has not only studied leadership and observed leadership, he has lived it. Through stories, inspirational quotes, and hard-won insights from the depths of his experience, he has given us a book that nails down the issue of leadership.

This book is not a textbook. Its a life book. Pat has drawn seven paradoxical principles of leadership from the ultimate leadership model, Jesus Christ. Yet there is nothing preachy or proselytizing about this book. Whether you are a person of faith or not, the insights in this book will transform your leadership style and enhance your leadership skills.

If youre like me, youve probably read a lot of books on leadership and youve found many were lightweight, filled with obvious platitudes and padded to fill out the space between the covers. Not this book. It is full of meaning and truth. As you read it you quickly realize that Pat Williams doesnt waste a single wordhe crams as much insight and knowledge between these covers as will possibly fit. Thats why this book continually yields fresh insights with each reading.

So turn the page and begin your journey. Read it and reread it. Build its paradoxical principles into your life. Live in this bookthen lead.

Atlanta, Georgia

November 2002

C urly Lambeau was the original Green Bay Packer.

He was in the editorial offices of the Green Bay Press-Gazette on August 11, 1919, when the team was founded. He played halfback for the Packers from 1919 through 1929. As head coach, he led the Packers to six world championships.