A much loved teacher and leader who had a significant influence on my life and calling, Dr Howard Hendricks, sadly passed away recently. He used to repeatedly say, “Great teachers (and great leaders) teach out of the overflow of a full life. You cannot impart what you do not possess”. Hendricks understood a key principle of leadership and realized that only those who lead out of the overflow and abundance of their lives will leave a lasting legacy in their generation. Effective leaders do not merely give half-heartedly, they inspire others because they themselves have been inspired and this can only come from the overflow of a full heart and life.
Great leaders ensure that their wells are never empty and never stagnant. This does not mean the absence of suffering, disappointment or hardship in the leadership journey, but more importantly the cultivation of character traits and attitudes that endure through every season of life. Sadly, our current generation's obsession with celebrity and fame rather than leadership and character means we are quickly forgetting what it means to cultivate a full heart and life that prepares us for a lifetime of effective leadership and not merely 15 minutes of fleeting fame.
Dr Hendricks life was a testament to this overflowing heart and life, and the intentional digging of a wellspring within his life, ensuring that through every season and every circumstance he had something to give and something to impart to his students. Hendricks was from a broken home (where his parents separated as soon as he was born), and was told by his Yr 5 teacher that he would “most likely end up in prison”. Rather than embracing this destructive pathway, his teacher in Yr 6 Miss Noe, opened his heart to a greater destiny when she introduced herself to him on the first day: “I’ve heard a lot about you… but I don’t believe a word of it”. These few simple, heartfelt words transformed a troubled young man and so powerfully influenced him that from that day on, he desired to be a teacher.
And what a teacher that young man became – for nearly 60 years, Hendricks taught over 10 000 students, wrote 23 books, was the much loved chaplain for the Dallas Cowboys and inspired countless lives to teach passionately “from the overflow of a full life”. He was known as one of the most influential and engaging teachers of his generation and his most famous book “Teaching to Change Lives” is given to all our teaching staff at Heights College. His firm conviction was that “if you stop growing today, you stop teaching tomorrow” and his life over six decades of teaching and leading embodied this conviction. John Maxwell has succinctly stated that “leadership is influence”. In the life of Dr Howard Hendricks, it is clearly evident that his enduring legacy to teachers all over the world has been his influence in inspiring them to keep the wells of learning and living filled to overflowing – for out of the abundance (the overflow) of those types of hearts, comes the most influential teachers and leaders in every generation.
What an enduring legacy the "prof" has left on his generation - enter into your rest good and faithful servant...
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