Gardening For Roses–Sharing Space In The Garden

Tomorrow, Oregon and Arizona are playing in the same dirt! They’re each trying to grow their own garden of fresh roses, hoping to earn the right to play Ohio State in the prestigious ‘Grand-Daddy of Them All’: The Rose Bowl.

The Rose Bowl, part of the BCS bowl series, is in the sights of both Arizona and Oregon and tomorrow night’s game could potentially determine the Pac-10′s representative. Amid the mess that is the Pac-10 conference, only Oregon and Arizona control their destinies.

Jeremiah Masoli, quarterback for the Oregon Ducks, has been gardening for roses the entire year. His glimpses of greatness last year were colored by his lackluster performances, particularly their season opener against Boise State. Masoli has ‘found his niche’ in the on-slaught attack of the spread offense created by head coach Chip Kelly. His ability to run the ball is well complemented by his ability to get the ball into the hands of quick and agile running backs and receivers. He has been more consistent and made good decisions with the football. In an article over at ESPN, Coach Kelly comments, “Early this season, he tried to take a lot of the load on himself. Now he realizes that we’ve got some weapons around him,” Ducks coach Chip Kelly said. “He’s got a better understanding of managing the game and not forcing issues. Just kind of letting things come to him. He made some really smart plays on Saturday [against Arizona State] just throwing the ball away in the red zone.”

A leader’s ability to not force issues and try and take too much of a load on themselves is an important concept to highlight. Many leaders feel an inaccurate burden that they have to ‘do it all themselves’. And, in a culture where a person has to create their own destiny, often we overwork and overburden ourselves into isolating ourselves from others. A good leader understands that part of their role is to allow the talented people around them to do their part, fill their role. When Masoli was willing to allow other players to make plays, it opened up a vast array of attack possibilities for the Oregon Ducks, make their offense arguably the most explosive in the nation.

Masoli and the Ducks will do well on Saturday if Masoli continue this trend and allows other playmakers to make plays. Leaders, in turn, will find greater success when they allow the talented men and women around them to share leadership, responsibility and success.