I was out ice climbing with Chris Carrier today teaching him the ropes in a new sport he's taken an interest in. Chris is very athletic, very clever and has a lot of natural climbing talent. And he's new at it.
On the last climb of the day, I picked a dead vertical column of ice and Chris got spanked about halfway up, as his forearms lost strength and he could no longer physically hold onto the ice axes.
The reason? Chris had not yet learned to use his legs to support his weight; he used too much of his arm strength to hold himself up. Arms are not as strong as legs, which are much bigger.
Chris runs a very successful cleaning business (window works; http://www.soyoudonthaveto.com/) and I asked him how this ice climbing lesson might apply to his business. His answer, not surprising was very profound. In business his arms and hands represent what he does himself in the business: it literally means to be "hands-on". His legs and feet are the equivalents of his team of very capable people. If he does not use his people as much as he could, he does too much himself and might tire himself out trying to overcome a business issue on his own. Leadership on ice and leadership in business seem to be one in the same.
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