Rod Handley is the President and founder of Character that Counts and author of Character That Counts, Who’s Counting Yours?
Herb: Rod, your ministry focuses on developing personal integrity and character, what in your personal experience led you to focus on character?
Rod: Probably my flaws, my deficiencies, my brokenness. And realizing that, as much as I wanted to be a person of character, it was very challenging. I didn’t plan on messing up. I didn’t plan on making mistakes. But my track record was that I saw the issues that I struggled with, such as pride, lust, being stingy, not being generous, having a self centered attitude. And as I began to share those issues with other men, suddenly I saw the light bulbs going on and men saying they could relate to me, they understood.
Realizing I was on common ground with men reinforced that I was in the same battle as they were. So many men are battling these issues and the more real I get, the more genuine and authentic I am with these guys, the more credibility I have to bring biblical truth and biblical freedom to them. So that’s why, for me, I’m just talking from my own imperfection.
One of the things I tell guys is that it’s not about perfection, it’s about direction. We all make mistakes, but God can use our greatest failures and mistakes to be our greatest point of ministry. God is a God of redemption. He’s a God of restoration, He’s a God who can use all our mess to bring glory to himself. I’m just a casualty who is talking out of my own experience blunders. That’s why I’m so passionate about this subject.
Herb: Being transparent is critical, isn’t it?
Rod: I have no credibility without transparency. That’s what guys are looking for. They’re looking for that authentic, genuine, sincere guy.
Herb: Why do you think it’s so hard for ordinary guys to open up and be transparent?
Rod: We’re petrified of it because there’s this sense that I won’t be successful, or people will hold it against me, or I will have no credibility.
Herb: It’s a sign of weakness.
Rod: It’s a sign of weakness. John Eldridge says, “Most men fake it till they make it.” We have this image or personal that we think is going to be very attractive to people. But the opposite thing occurs. The more you think you’ve got your life together, then people will actually say, “This guy’s unapproachable.” The more you’re real, genuine and authentic, the more guys are going to say, “Holy cow, that guy has the courage to share his stuff. He’ll listen to my stuff.”
And so that connection is pretty amazing. All of a sudden you have credibility with guys who want to get honest with God, honest with others and honest with themselves.
Herb: Rod, share a little bit about how God led you to start Character that Counts.
Rod: Thirty years ago was the genesis of it. I was with The Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the state of Washington serving the athletes and coaches there and God called us to a new adventure. I moved to Kansas City to be part of the national staff of FCA. So for fifteen years I served on the staff. But I had a sense that God was birthing something new. FCA was very comfortable for me. Being an athlete and someone who loved ministry was a natural fit. But God had given me a passion for men and for character related issues. And much to my surprise God launched us into a new work in 2000 and called us to step out by faith and create something new.
I remember when I left FCA, one of the national board members pulled me aside and said, “Rod, this is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. You’re going to talk to people about character, integrity, accountability? Those are common sense things. Thirty days from now you’ll be back here begging for your job back.”
I thought, “What an endorsement!” And probably three months into it, I began to wonder if I really had made a mistake. It was hard. People weren’t calling. I wondered if it was really a life message. But God began to give us some traction, give us some audiences, give us some credibility. And as we began to go into schools, and to churches and to businesses and talk about those three simple words: character, integrity and accountability, words that I was learning about myself, God has been faithful. So for fifteen years we’ve been doing this work. It’s a Christ centered work. It’s a faith based work. It’s a biblical work. And we give God glory for the different opportunities He’s given us around the country to share three pretty simple words.
Herb: You do seminars, is that correct?
Rod: I do a lot of conference work, seminar work, workshops.
Herb: So you speak in men’s groups, churches and business.
Rod: Business, schools. And because of my athletic background, I do a ton of chapel services for professional and collegiate and high school teams as well.
Herb: What was your sport?
Rod: I was a football player back in the day. I’m paying the price for it now with all my woes and injuries! But yes, I got beat up pretty good.
Herb: What position did you play?
Rod: I was a quarterback initially until I hurt my arm. And then I became a receiver and took a lickin’ over the middle. So my body’s screaming at me.
Herb: It was fun then, wasn’t it?
Rod: It was. But you know, one of the cool things about football is that it’s not just a great game, it teaches you about yourself. The teamwork needed and the disciplines and all the different lessons. I was fortunate to be an All American in my sport, but also was a benchwarmer. And so I can identify pretty much with any athlete, whether the premier player or the guy that’s struggling for any kind of position at all. So those experiences have given me credibility when I go and talk to the teams. I can pretty much identify with any player on that squad.
Herb: You were involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but now you’re working with a team.
Rod: Yes, we have a team. I’ve got about 40 guys on staff, some of those are in full time roles. Some are in part time roles. They all are men who are also committed to the character principles that we have and also our accountability model so that we can replicate ourselves. The cool thing about the team is that some of them have had experiences that I’ve never gone through. We have guys on our team who have been divorced and remarried who they divorced. They have a unique audience. We have guys that have served time in prison. They’re felons and have a record. One guy is a certified life coach who is very talented. One guy has a passion for discipleship. We have a guy who has been in the military for twenty years and he has a unique branch in that. And one of my guys is a professional NFL mascot by day and does a lot of our character stuff by night, especially in grade schools. So it’s a neat team of people that we have that God has given us.
Herb: Tell us about your book, Character that Counts, Who’s Counting Yours?
Rod: I wrote that back in the early 90’s initially. We’ve done five updates over the years. It details two things, why accountability is so important and then actually how to do it. So it’s very practical in how it’s implemented and that’s the one that we’ve gotten a lot of traction with. And then I have twenty additional books that we’ve put out. A lot of those are athletically focused books because Fellowship of Christian Athletes still has me write some of their summer curriculum. So I end up doing a book or two a year for them for their athletes and coaches. I have about 120 character qualities that we’ve taught so I can take those 120 lessons and convert them to either an athletic audience, a non-athletic audience, a business audience, a church audience, so we can get a lot of different traction. The books parallel each other and has a common theme to them.
Herb: Where can someone find your website?
Rod: Characterthatcounts.org
Herb: So someone can check out your website and see if you’re available to speak.
Rod: I love doing speaking engagements. I do about thirty weekends a year that I’m out doing events like Iron Sharpens Iron and Men of Honor. I love interacting with men because, as we know, men are the impact players. They’re the ones that determine the nature of the family and the community. So I want to invest in the guys that I know can make a difference beyond just with themselves, but into a deeper relationship with their family and community.
Herb: Thanks so much, Rod, for your ministry. It’s fun seeing you on the “circuit.”
You can learn more about Rod Handley’s ministry helping men develop character at CharacterThatCounts.org.
November 11, 2014
Little Rock, Arkansas