LEAD with Wisdom: Leadership, Engagement and Diversity
Monday, July 27, 2009
Reflecting on ‘The Summit’ – Respect Due
For the last two Sunday nights, July 19th and 26th, I was riveted to CBC television, watching what I think could have been a big screen movie, “The Summit”. A terrific ensemble cast lead by the always stellar, Christopher Plummer, depicting the abject failure of leadership, its outcome and to a lesser degree – attempts at redemption. “This compelling movie focuses on a North American military-engineered smallpox virus smuggled into Canada as world leaders gather for the G8 Summit …” As promoted on www.cbc.ca.
One of my favourite leadership authors is Noel Tichy and his guide through ‘teachable moments’ - this movie had many. And further, it has made me reflect on the word summit as a metaphor for leadership. I went to my thesaurus and noted these words: peak, pinnacle, top, crest, crown, apex, zenith, culminating point, climax, (and oh yes, the noun, a type of meeting). Of course all of these words and phrases could be referring to one’s lofty position– the height of power. Being ‘at the summit’ is seen to be a decided advantage, parlayed into leadership good. Here one can better survey the landscape from the best vantage point - see more, do more, help more and effectively make a significant difference in the lives of the many who have yet to summit. Yes, yet another definition, the verb.
Those who successfully summit the highest mountains in the world might suggest that one is only as good as their equipment, their climbing partner/team, their guide, their Sherpa, their planning, their preparation - mental and physical, their respect for the mountain above and the landscape around and below. In this movie, enough people, even enough leaders became thoughtfully engaged in time to stop a small-pox outbreak; in spite of some unethical members of the team. They surveyed the landscape, asked the tough questions and in the end showed ethical leadership, even setting personal ambitions aside. There are leaders of our time that work to do just that but we need many more. Of course the antithesis of summit is: base, bottom, to descend. Well, if we’re not going up, we’re standing still or going down. How can we use ‘teachable moments’ to lead and to select leaders that help us to summit?
Lake Louise, AB. Photo taken by Marva Wisdom. All rights reserved
