I recently heard a great analogy which describes the role of a leader. In the US they have smokejumper teams. They skydive into the worst conditions mainly to fight forest fires. The team is normally composed of 8 people it is seasonal work and they get paid a whopping $16 and hour. They are also self sufficient for 48 hrs once they hit the ground. So as you can imagine it's pretty much about the adrenaline.
Now there is a strict rule that the leader of the team doesn't fight the fire, however as these are ppl that are friends and colleagues, that have been working together in the most bonding profession you can imagine on occasion this rule has been forgotten, literally in the heat of the moment, when the leader sees a friend in trouble.
The leader jumps in to fight the fire and because he is not doing his or her job which is to stand back and watch the overall fire and get his team back in time or concentrate in one area, whole teams have been lost.
And I think we as leaders often fail our teams by getting involved in the detail rather than keeping the big picture as our focus and allowing competent people to take care of the detail.
Awesome analogy! The disastrous consequence of this story is vivid enough for one to remember! thanks for sharing!
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