Maybe we should all go to the dogs (for leadership lessons)?
A great read below about the comradery of the sled dogs in the annual Iditarod race of 1,049 miles in early March in Alaska. But also some great insight into the "musher" and the relationship they have with their charges.
The dogs are the stars and the true performers, but the musher's (leader) job is to align, facilitate and unlock the power of the dogs:
"A team typically consists of the musher—the word derives from “marche,” the command a French musher would traditionally give—and up to 14 dogs, hooked together in pairs...It’s the musher’s job to seize that energy and channel it in the most effective way."
"A successful musher must learn the strengths and weaknesses of each member of the team, strike a careful balance, and defuse often dramatic rivalries. Dogs show loyalty and camaraderie, but they also vie for dominance, and get angry, feisty, distracted, sullen, and jealous. The musher becomes the coach who not only takes the athletes to the peak of their individual potential, but ensures that they all cohere as a unit."
"The musher’s job is deeply challenging. An oversight during race preparation or a moment’s lack of concentration can prove disastrous. Still, it’s the dogs who are far and away the most important participants in the race. They alone provide the forward motion as the sled powers more than a thousand miles through what can be brutal conditions. Even the mushers who are household names in Alaska admit that the real stars are the dogs."
A good reminder that for a leader, like a musher, your job is not to do the tasks of each or your member (or whip them:-), nor program them as interchangeable robots; rather you need to prepare, facilitate and channel the skills and energy of each of your stars.
https://lnkd.in/gJXZ8h9h
#leadership #dogs #iditarod
Dean of Workforce Training, Professional Development and Apprenticeship at Northcentral Technical College, Certified Program Planner
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