Many fathers think of themselves as coaches, guiding their sons and daughters to academic and athletic success. I’m all in favor of hoping your child succeeds. But if you really want to be a great dad, especially in today’s society, focus on leading instead of coaching.

There’s a big difference between a coach and a leader. Coaches can teach skills and encourage their execution, but it’s a leader who brings vision, which is another way of saying a moral framework for how life is to be lived.

There’s a big difference between a coach and a leader. Coaches can teach skills and encourage their execution, but it’s a leader who brings vision, which is another way of saying a moral framework for how life is to be lived.

Moral leadership relies on moral courage, which means having the intestinal fortitude to do, say, and believe what you know to be right. That sense of right and wrong comes from a well-formed conscience—a conscience that doesn’t make up its own rules but that conforms itself to eternal truth.

Fathers, you’re raising kids during a difficult era: the era of social media. This is bad news for your kids and bad news for…