The weather was perfect for this year's Kansas City Marathon. Unfortunately, I was not!

Don’t let the exuberance of the photo fool you.

The weather was perfect for this year's Kansas City Marathon. Unfortunately, I was not!

It was mile 13 of the 13.1 half marathon and my hip flexors were killing me.

For the previous 2 hours, my pace was right on track. Although I had noticed a little discomfort starting around mile 8, now the pain was really starting to kick in. I had always looked forward to Pam cheering me on towards the finish line, but this year she was sick and wasn’t able to make it.

As I could feel myself slowing down and contemplating walking the rest of the way, I heard shout from the crowd:

“Rusty! You’ve got this!”

My friend Eric, who had finished the race a few minutes before, was now standing on the sidelines with his family cheering on me and the other members of our team as each of us neared the finish line.

I Thessalonians 5:11 says “Encourage one another and build each other up.”

Eric didn’t hop the fence and finish the race for me, instead his encouragement helped me, and several others make it to the finish line.

Leadership isn’t about taking over for someone else when they are struggling, but rather encouraging, equipping and guiding them to completing the project or task at hand.

Who can you be an Eric Encourager to today?