Lessons from the Sidelines: Thoughts from on and off the football field on faith, family, and living well

Karen Blake has worked both as the owner of a nonprofit and as a mother of two. Both are demanding jobs, and it seems as though both would require a very different set of skills. In some ways, they do, but in her book, she points out ten lessons she has learned from being a mother of two boys involved in sports that can be applicable to the business world as well. The lessons aren’t just for people involved in business, though. They can be applied to many more aspects of adult life, from other career paths to volunteering to simply getting along with friends.

The book is arranged in a simple, easy-to-follow structure. Karen first lays out the lesson, then explains the context in which she learned it. The second half of the chapter explains how it can be applied to the “real world”—in this case, an office setting, but it only takes a little imagination to figure out how to apply them to different aspects of your life.

The first lesson, for example, involves showing up to practice even before the coach is there. Taken literally, that doesn’t offer much for an office worker, but Blake goes on to explain that the lesson here is about dedication. If you show up early, not only will it show other people in your life that you are dedicated, but you can also make sure you have everything set up as you need it rather than scrambling as everyone else is getting started. The same goes for staying late; it shows dedication and allows you to possibly catch up with other people.

I found the book to be very useful. The ten lessons are easy to understand, and Blake has a friendly, accessible tone. I’ve never been the mother of sports children or an employee at an office, but I still found the book helpful and applicable to my life.

My one complaint is that the book doesn’t go into much detail about any of the lessons. The book itself is only thirty-four pages, meaning each lesson only has a few pages apiece. That makes it hard to go past the surface. I would have been interested to see Blake expand on the lessons, either by providing more examples of how they have worked in her life or by discussing in greater detail what they could mean for the reader. On the whole, though, this is a very useful book which will help many people.