The closer I got to the group setting up, the more I could sense something was wrong. The tension was noticeable.
In a position I held many years ago, I was walking outside across the quad of the school on my way from one building to another. On the grass, the maintenance staff was setting up for an all-school, outdoor event which was to occur within the next couple hours. The closer I got to the group setting up, the more I could sense something was wrong. The tension was noticeable.
I pulled aside the young man who was in charge of the set up just to see what was wrong.
“We set some of this up last night and it’s all wet.” He said.
He was forlorn.
I looked and, sure enough, the seats of the folding chairs had puddles of water on them and the grass below them was drenched.
Clearly, the staff had forgotten to shut off the sprinkler system.
“Okay,” I said, “what’s the plan?”
The staff had begun moving the chairs to a different part of the quad – a dry part – and had also started wiping the chairs down.
I pitched in.
They needed the help. The president of the school was very conscious of appearances. This event would have parents and board members at it and the maintenance staff – particularly the young man in charge – were more than a bit intimidated by him.
We worked for about forty-five minutes. I cannot guarantee that everyone had dry backsides when they sat in them, but they were out of the swamp of the wet grass and ready to go before the students, staff, parents and dignitaries hit the field.
All’s well that ends well.
Growing up, I had watched my mother and father set up and take down many an event, those that they were speakers at or a part of and those that they were not. It was just what one did to help things come off correctly and well. That day in the wet grass, it never occurred to me to do anything but help.
I believe that if we, as leaders, are unwilling to move the chairs, if we somehow think the task beneath us or that we are more important than the work, then we are not effective leaders. I believe we are not even that good.
If you disagree, we have very different definitions of leadership.