Monday, May 5, 2014

Rope Holders

20 years ago, during a trek in the Himalayas, we met a German scientist. The man was a muse… every expression of his emerged from deep thinking. There were many correlations he made between the realities of mountaineering and the philosophies of life. One such powerful analogy lingers in the mind…
‘When you are hanging down a cliff... with a deep fall beneath… and only a rope to hold on to… who do you want to be holding the rope on the other side?’, he asked. Most of us ended up declaring names of our most trusted friends or relatives. Surely, we needed someone who could endure the burning pain of holding the rope with a sense of commitment and determination.
The modern sage then asked us whether those trustworthy persons would be constantly around us to hold the rope. We immediately looked around at each of us in the team. We knew that in real terms, it was the people in our team who would hold the rope for us. That night, we held hands around the campfire, resolving to be dependable rope-holders to each other.    
We must look around every team we belong to and do everything necessary to unite to impact the possibilities of symbiotic support. We need to be able to confirm the trust that everyone would endure the bleeding pain that is inflicted on the hands of those holding the rope. In every team, we need persons who stand up for the others in difficult situations.
It is pertinent to note that committed rope-holders are often an ignored tribe. They are the ones who don’t let go even in the toughest predicaments. True leaders can identify that these rope-holders are the real reasons for the survival and success of the team. And of course, true leaders will display the fullest commitment by holding the rope for the others in the team.
Truly, it is rope-holders who ‘unite to impact’...
For they ensure the team’s dependability tract!
                              
- Pravin K. Sabnis
Goa, India.

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