adminFredrick Qaphelani Mabikwa Successful Solutions
IN the last article I discussed the laws of “significance, the big picture and the niche. In this article I will discuss the following laws, the law of “Mount Everest”, the “Chain”, the “Catalyst” and the law of the “Compass”.The Law of Mount Everest
The “Law of Mount Everest” says “As the challenge escalates, the need for teamwork elevates”. John Maxwell used the Tenzing Norgay climbing of Mount Everest as an illustration.
He noted that for 32 years, between 1920 and 1952, seven major expeditions had tried to get to the top of Mount Everest but all had failed. Tenzing Norgay who was on six of those expeditions embarked on his seventh expedition to Everest with a British group lead by Colonel John Hunt. To hope to get to the summit the team further brought in high –altitude climbers, including a New Zealander named Edmund Hillary.
Altogether the man would require two and a half tonnes of equipment and food. All these supplies couldn’t be air lifted to the base of the mountain; they had to be carried on the backs of men and women 180 miles up and down the Himalayan ridges and over rivers crossed by narrow rope and plank bridges to the base camp.
What this meant was that Tenzing would have to hire between 200 and 300 people just to get the supplies in the vicinity of the mountain. These supplies would then need to be carried up the mountain by 40 porters with mountain climbing experience.
Now for each level that the climbers reached, a higher degree of teamwork was required. A team of men would exhaust themselves to carry equipment up the mountain for the next group to take over to the next level.
On May 29, 1953, Tenzing and Norgay and Edmund Hillary made it to the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest pick. Tenzing had this to say afterwards,
“. . . for where would Hillary and I have been without the others? Without the climbers who had made the route and the Sherpas who had carried the loads. . .?” When history is written, the information is that Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made it to the top of Mount Everest and it is silent about the team of close to 300 men and women who assisted the two to get to the top of Everest.
What is your Everest? Your Everest is your dream. You cannot accomplish a dream alone; you need a team to accomplish the dream. Note who is to be on your team and also what should the dream team look like? John Maxwell says, if you want to climb Mount Everest, you need a Mount Everest-sized team. Focus more on the team than the dream.
If you build the right team, the dream will almost take care of itself. The team members must be developed and add specialists. Change leadership when progress needs a new leader and remove ineffective team members where necessary.
The Law of the Chain
The Law of the Chain says “the strength of the team is impacted by its weakest link”. John Maxwell says as much as any team likes to measure itself by its best people, the truth is that the strength of the chain is impacted by its weakest link.
This law is a hard law but it’s nothing but the truth. The mistake your must never make as a leader is that everyone on your team should remain on the team.
Some people on the team have a negative attitude. Some are stagnant, they don’t want to change, and they don’t want to grow or conquer new territory. They want to hold fast to the status quo. Such people cannot move with the team, thank them for their contributions and move on. Some people would join the team with hidden agendas and their dream and vision is not that of the team.
Such people if identified should be fished out of the team as soon as possible. Some people might not have the stamina to keep pace with others in the team. Their slow pace then affects the pace of the whole team. The weak link in the team is very easy to identify.
In fact they are known already by the other team members. The stronger ones should therefore assist the weaker ones and if there is no change the stronger ones will resent the weaker ones and in the process they will also become less effective, leading to the destruction of the team.
If the person is not willing to grow to keep pace with the others then they have to try another team where they can add value. If you can’t train them — trade them. As long as there is a weak link in the team, the whole team suffers.
Take for instance an army scenario. A weak link in the army can cause the whole battalion to be killed, that is how bad keeping a weak link in the team can be.
The Law of the Catalyst
The Law of the Catalyst says “Winning teams have players who make things happen”. What is a catalyst? A catalyst is like the miracle person in the team.
For a team to reach its potential there must be a catalyst. John Maxwell says “catalysts are get it done-and-then-some–people”. These are people whose “single” influence in the team gets the team to win.
A good example of a catalyst that comes to mind is Michael Jordan, US’ most decorated basketball player. The Bulls always counted on Jordan to win games…winning teams have players who make things happen. That is the law of the catalyst.
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