Just before I began my hike down the Grand (God's) Canyon I overheard a park ranger say that everyone should respect the canyon. I think he was probably referring to picking up trash and keeping the campsites clean, but as I journeyed down from the North Rim to Phantom Ranch and back up to the South Rim, his words took on a deeper meaning. I found that the canyon is pretty unforgiving. If you sprain your ankle, the canyon doesn't care... if you run out of water the sun doesn't dim its heat... if you lose your way, the canyon doesn't provide convenient road signs... if you eat all your food, there is no snack bar near by. One must respect the canyon and treat her with all seriousness. At the top of the South Rim there is a poster of a marathon runner who died in the canyon of heat exhaustion – she entered the canyon with 1.5 quarts of water 2 power bars and an apple. She highly underestimated the demands of the canyon and the deadly results of disrespecting the environment.
There are many such stories of people dying in the Grand Canyon. In fact once we had obtained permission to camp in the canyon, the park system send us a video to watch. The first or second statement made on the video was, “People die in the Grand Canyon every year.” Jeremy, one of my fellow hikers on the trip, had a book listing all of the known deaths that occurred in the canyon. Most of the people who perish in the rocky environment died because they failed to respect the canyon. Many failed to take adequate water/food supplies – once caught out in the afternoon sun with no shade available and temperatures over 120 degrees, the birds of death begin to circle overhead. Physical falls rarely happen unless people are goofing around or trying to get the special photograph by going places past the point of safety. Bushwhacking in the Grand Canyon is foolish indeed – the canyon is not a place for independent exploration.
What does this have to do with leadership? A lot! The effective leader respects his/her leadership environment. It may not be as unforgiving as God's Canyon, but careful preparation for and wise responses to the context/content of the organizational setting can add effectiveness and productivity to one's ministry. A boardroom presentation can be deadly if the leader has not done his research and respected the issue enough to prepare his/her perspective. The opposition and threats both from within an organization and from forces outside the company can be deceptively powerful. A leader who ignores or dismisses these entities can find him/herself without water in the heat of the canyon.
Often the biggest danger in the Grand Canyon is the hiker himself...doing foolish things, climbing in dangerous areas, and not watching where he is going. The same is true in leadership. Often the biggest danger is the leader him/herself. Foolish decisions can lead to disaster... pride and hunger for power can cause a leader to slip off the edge of effectiveness and into the crevice of mistrust or the crag of egotism. There is great wisdom in the advice of fellow hikers and leaders should surround themselves with competent colleagues that will help him/her stay on 
the straight and narrow.
Don't get me wrong with this post. There are times to take risks as a leader. There are those opportunities to take that involve something new and novel and different. But I think an effective leader respects the environment enough to know when the risk is appropriate and when it is not. Starting a 14-mile hike with just a little water at 11:00 am in God's Canyon is a foolish life and death risk. But climbing to the top of Ribbon Falls to see the view below, is a risk well worth taking with benefits that are absolutely beautiful. A risk in the appropriate environment can result in significant growth and huge strides. The key is to understand and to respect the setting.
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