Most people think cycling is an individual sport. It’s not.
Without a strong, committed team, no individual rider could compete in a big race like le Tour de France. Each team identifies one, or perhaps two, leaders, the strongest, most experienced cyclists with the best chance to prevail at the end. The other riders do the grunt work, the thankless-but-necessary tasks designed to get the leaders to the finish line safely and efficiently.
The “leaders” are rarely in front on a long ride. Because of air resistance, the first riders in a group expend the most energy. So the supporting riders take turns in front, blocking the wind and allowing the team leaders to ride in their slipstream and conserve as much as 30% of their energy.
HOWEVER…
…at key points in the race, the leader is expected to lead.
Those key spots are the hardest, most dangerous, most tactically demanding stretches. At those moments the leader must take a risk, leave the team’s protective cocoon, and demonstrate the strength and courage his teammates expect.
He may succeed or not. But at the critical moment when the climb is toughest and everyone else falters, he has to expose himself and go as hard as he can.
The team doesn’t mind doing the grunt work for that kind of leader. They have his back because they know, at that decisive, pivotal moment, he’ll have theirs. That’s how shared sacrifice works.
That’s what leaders do.
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Martin Luther King, Jr. was that kind of leader. We recall his soaring oratory; we tend to forget the beatings and arrests, the times he stood on the front lines on the marches from Selma to Montgomery.
His team warned Dr. King of the dangers lurking in Memphis in 1968, but he believed this was a moment to step to the front. He knew and accepted the risks, and he moved toward the danger.
That’s what leaders do.
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Many “leaders”—in business, politics, and the church—hide behind big desks in safe corner offices. They talk the talk, cast big visions, but frankly there’s little or no risk or sacrifice involved on their end. Their team blocks the wind while they accumulate wealth, power, and influence. They don’t have much skin in the game.
Somebody has to answer the phone and do all the other big and small tasks to make the organization work and free the leader to do what she does best.
In return, at those critical moments the leader has to leave the corner office. He has to step into the wind and take the risk. He has to go toward the danger.
If that doesn’t happen, the “leader” is nothing more than a bully sacrificing the team for his own personal gain.
That’s not what leaders do.
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