Walt Hampton, J.D.

Creating the Work & Life You LOVE

The Sharp End
April 8, 2010

“You’re on belay, dad.”

I double checked my harness and my knot.  And started out on the long traverse.

The Teton air was cool and dry.  But the rock was still damp from the rare morning thunder storm that we had narrowly averted.

I glanced down beneath my feet at the talus some 1200 feet below – and momentarily my head swooned.  Regaining my concentration, I worked my way along the narrow ledge. And soon I was anchored in and secure.

“Off belay,” I yelled into the wind.  My seventeen year old quickly dissembled the anchor and easily dispatched the traverse.

He’ll be wanting to lead – he’ll be wanting the sharp end soon, I thought.

Who leads?  And who follows?  Interesting questions, I think.

I like to lead.  I’m most comfortable on ice.  I like the puzzle of rock as well.  But most of all, I love the intricacies of a long alpine expedition.  There the logistics and demands of environment and team are the most challenging.  There the stakes are highest.

Not everyone likes to lead though.  I have been thinking about this a lot lately as I have been interviewing applicants for a position in our firm.  There are lots of folks who prefer to follow, who don’t want the “stuff” that comes with being on the sharp end – business development, the insurance premiums, the responsibility for payroll.

I get that.  There have been plenty of days when the ice has been brittle and the protection marginal and the run-out way too long; there have been many cold mornings when the thought of climbing out of my bag to light the stove yet again has left me thinking about a Caribbean cruise.  And there have been more days than I can count when the requirements of running a business – from the choice of toner cartridges to the choice of who argues a case before the Supreme Court – have left me pining for the comfort and solitude of my tent.

But it’s on the sharp end where things happen.  It’s on the sharp end where life is lived most vitally and intensely.

I’ve been reading Robin Sharma’s fabulous new book The Leader Who Had No Title. The premise of the book is that everyone can lead. In fact, according to Sharma, everyone must lead to attain their highest potential.  Regardless of  role or job or position, leading matters. Leading is essential. Yes, even for my seventeen year old.

“I believe that the single best move any organization can make – whether the organization is a business or a not-for-profit or a government or school or even a nation – is growing the leadership potential of every single one of its constituents. Leadership is not only the most powerful competitive advantage for companies – it really is the ultimate tool of our current age to apply if we want to build a better world,”  Sharma says.

Powerful stuff.

But not impossible stuff. Folks aren’t born leaders, according to Sharma.  It is a learned skill.  We need to practice it in every area of our life.  And it starts close to home.  “You cannot lead others until you have first learned to lead yourself,” he says.

I’ve just finished Nick Kristof’s new book Half The Sky, a brilliant and staggering account of human trafficking and gender discrimination.  I’ll write about it one of these days.  But one of Kristoff’s take home messages is the importance of empowerment.

Mary Robinson, Ireland’s former prime minister, now U.N. high commissioner for human rights, speaks of people – women in particular – who are suffering in poverty in places like Darfur and Chad. And the significance of using leadership to empower, to change people’s lives.

Leadership changes lives.

And as leaders, we change lives by becoming the change we want to see.

I like to climb with strong leaders.  And to be sure, I won’t be hiring a follower.

The sharp end is scary. But it beats the alternatives.

3 Comments

  1. barrel bob

    You nailed it as usual Walt. One more word: “Ouch!”

    Reply
  2. Phdyz

    I agree. Be the change you want to see. I like to think that it’s love that changes lives.

    Reply
  3. Jonathan

    I couldn’t agree with you more. Even though both the leader and the follower are pulling the same moves the experience is totally different. When leading you have the freedom to map your own route even if that route dead ends. You’re more aware because you are forced to be. The beauty of it is that the ability to lead is attainable by everyone. Once somebody is jostled awake (in climbing or in life) to the freedom and the power of controlling his own destiny the magic begins and wonderful things can happen.

    Reply

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