Roped in For Life and Leadership
“Roll over! Dig your axe in! Get up on your toes! Put all your weight on the axe! Hold fast! Hold fast!”
All these thoughts were racing through my mind as we hurtled down the face of the glacier – four of us roped in and falling together. My hands and arms were scratched and bloodied from the ice crystals in the snow. My knuckles had gone numb from the cold and pounding. I was actually having to put into practice what we had been taught about self arrest techniques when climbing a glacier…
The summer of my son Benjamin’s 15th birthday he and I joined an expedition of fathers and sons to climb Mount Adams in Washington State. We flew into Portland, headed west up the Columbia River Gorge, then crossed the state line north to rendezvous with the rest of the group led by an organization called On The Edge Adventures.
It was a grueling multi-day hike which included a technical portion of glacial climbing with crampons and climbing axes. To prepare for this, we spent a few hours training in self arrest techniques. In the event you fall on the face of the glacier you have to know how to stop your descent to death. And, being that you are roped in with three other men, you have to know how to stop another man if he falls.
So, there we were in teams of four standing across the mountain face having successfully completed our training. The instructors began to slowly walk toward us, and I could smell a rat. Something fishy was going on.
The next thing we knew, they had grabbed the rope between each of us and started running down the mountainside, which in turn, caused us to fall down and begin our “descent to death”. Thankfully, after a brief terrifying descent, all of us were able to successfully self arrest, but not without a great degree of effort and discomfort.
Two observations I took away from this: 1. Whether we realize it or not, we are roped in with others in life and leadership. 2. Whether we want to be or not, we need to be roped in with others in life and leadership.
Our life is not an island. We are not alone, especially if we are married and have children. We are tied in with them and if we fall, we are pulling them with us. It’s not just about me. My decisions have consequences, both good and bad. We need to remember there are others on our lines and we can lead them into life, or otherwise.
We also need to make sure we are tied in with friends who are willing to dig in to help us when we slip. People we can call out to for help when we are falling. We need to keep the ropes of relationship in place so we can be cared for and care for others.
We are not alone on this journey. Our lives are joined with others and we need to make sure we are firmly tied into others lives – joined together.
The same is true for leadership. When you are a leader those you lead are tied in with you. When leaders fall we will drag many people with us. A leader must recognize the influence he/she has on those he/she leads – they are tied into you like climbers on a treacherous glacier. That is part of the burden of leadership – those you lead depend on you. It’s tough, and it’s dangerous. But, it’s part of the job so get used to it.
Great leaders don’t lead alone. They recognize the need to lead within community, to be tied together with others leaders in a peer advisory council of sorts. Any leader who sets out on their own is as foolish as a lone glacial mountain climber – the dangers of the terrain dictate the need for others with whom to journey.
Great leaders recognize the responsibility they carry being tied into those they lead. And, they recognize the need to be tied into other leaders in order to help each other in the epic expedition called leadership.
Great leaders are roped in for life and leadership.
