Leadership Insights from God's Canyon Pt 4

One last insight from the Grand Canyon before I move on to the realities of Ohio. There are certain unwritten laws of etiquette in the canyon. One is that you always yield to a mule train coming up or going down the path. We passed three groups of mules during our hike. The first was taking supplies down to Phantom Ranch. The three-animal convoy had a great-looking cowboy riding on the head mule. The second group of four mules was again guided by a single rider taking supplies to the bottom of the canyon. The third group of mules consisted of multiple animals, each with a rider, headed down the rocky trail. The mules made lots of dust, but were fun to observe as they clopped their way down the narrow switchbacks. The people on the mules did not seem extremely happy. Between the trauma to their posteriors and the continual dust in their noses, their were not many smiles on the riders' faces.

Another unwritten law is, besides the mule trains, the climber going up has the right-away. Those going down should always yield and allow those going up to have access to the path. Once you begin to climb up, you completely understand this law. During our last day, the climb was steep and my legs really began to feel the assent. The elevation was playing a factor on my breathing and the sun was out in full force. The closer we came to the South Rim, the more day- hikers we encountered. It became obvious right away that most of these hikers had not read the unwritten laws. After the third group of rude “tourists” that failed to yield the path, I became rather irritated. I felt that I should stand up on a rock and declare to all the proper etiquette of hiking. After all they needed to show respect to those who had just hiked rim to rim! But instead, I decided to yield the path to everyone coming down the path and welcome them to God's Canyon. I stopped, put on a happy face, and greeted each one with a genuine word of encouragement. It wasn't long before I was really enjoying myself and felt like a seasoned explorer welcoming visitors into my Father's Canyon. Most of the day-hikers responded with smiles and positive comments, having no idea that they were failing to yield the path to a tired old man with no hair.

My leadership thought rising from my assent to the South Rim, is that leaders often have to yield their rights in order to relate to and understand others. Irritations when protocols are not followed; discouragements that surface when rules are disobeyed; and anger that begins to form when proper respect is not shown can all be short-circuited when we put aside our expectations and serve others. A smile and a word of encouragement instead of demanding the right to pass, can put life into a whole new perspective. Friendships can be made, employees will see your humility and your desire to collaborate. Taking time to stop, welcome people and share a word of encouragement provides an opportunity for the leader to demonstrate his/her personality and heart. A leader represents his organization – how good it is from time to time to become a greeter... to pause in the busyness of business to welcome people into the ministry of the organization.

Occasionally as the principal of the high school, I would stand at one of the doors coming into the school. As students would arrive, I would open the door for them and say something like, “Good morning, thanks so much for coming to school today. It is good to see you. Welcome to your opportunity to excel!” Most of the students would smile, some would say “Good morning, Mr. Rough”, a few would look at me like I was an alien, but I would not let anyone ignore me. I really enjoyed that experience – it forced me to get out of my office and interact with all the special students that God had sent our way. I think the students enjoyed being greeted by the principal at the door as well.