We recently returned from an Alaskan holiday and since everywhere I go, I look for lessons about work, today I want to share with you a lesson I learned at the Iditarod Trail Headquarters in Wasilla, Alaska.
You may know that the Iditarod is a sled dog race over 1049 miles of treacherous Alaskan wilderness. It begins in Anchorage and ends in Nome, Alaska, and it has been held in March every year since it began in 1967. This is a very important, internationally acclaimed event, with mushers and their dogs coming from all over the world to participate.
The Iditarod Trail Headquarters features a film about the race and you can find various memorabilia from previous races as well as modern-day promotional items, such as t-shirts. The most interesting thing in the headquarters building, in my opinion, however, was a stuffed sled dog by the name of Andy.
Andy was the lead dog of Rick Swenson’s team for several years. Rick Swenson is the only 5-time winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The literature about Andy and interviews with Rick Swenson discuss Andy’s indomitable spirit as head of the dog team. I read that if another musher passed Swenson, Andy would double his efforts, practically pulling the team to catch up. I also read that Andy’s enthusiasm for racing was so contagious that it was “caught” by the other dogs, thus making Swenson so successful in winning the races. Andy had been such an important part of Swenson’s team and the Iditarod race in general that after Andy died, Swenson had his body stuffed and placed in the trail headquarters museum for all to see. His traits as a leader were outlined on a gold plaque by his body.
As I left the headquarters, I couldn’t help but wonder how many of the team leaders in our companies exhibit the traits Andy exhibited—indomitable spirit, hard work, and contagious enthusiasm. If you are a team leader, do you exhibit these traits? After you’re gone, will someone hold you up as an example of a great team leader?
--Pamper