James has given himself an ulcer about his challenge to all of you leaders to enter the CEO Challenge.
And if not, at least turn up on the day. This is why:
“For me, the AdNews Challenge says a lot about leadership. In fact, it's front and centre of this event.”
And he’s right. If you can’t get out of bed on a Sunday morning when your troops have and are flying the flag for your business, you’re not a leader. You’re just the guy with the big office. But James can’t say that. He thinks it will make him sound like a wanker. And he’s not. He’s a bloke who cares deeply about things.
And one of the things about which he cares very deeply is being the kind of leader who supports his troops.
So I’ve ambushed James’ story. I can say what he can’t.
This is how James sees the leaders’ Challenge: “Three leaders send their troops out to do battle on The Challenge field. Some troops will break records. Some will tear hamstrings. All will bust their bums to do their best. Leader no.1 stays home with a warm cuppa and a chocolate brownie. Leader no.2 takes his family and his right hand people to cheer his troops from the sidelines. Leader no.3 has signed on as one of his team’s members and signed up to raise funds. When he runs the last 50 metres, his staff cheers him on. Which leader wins?”
Well, leaders, it sure as hell isn’t the one who wasn’t there to say well done, nice try or good effort on the day. A quick group memo some time on Monday doesn’t cut it.
We Yaffas cheered James on last year, so what? We also cheered him on the year before. And you know what? We were all damn proud of him. If James could compete in the Challenge. we could too. And it didn’t matter that some of us were allocated legs that wouldn’t have been a fifth choice had there been one. (No one here likes kayaking). We’ve all signed up to do The Challenge again. Some us have even signed up for garbage duty. Yep, we’ve signed on to clean up your mess.
I’m going to hand the mic over to James now. His name is at the top, so he gets the last word.
And this is it: “The AdNews Challenge is your chance to show what kind of driver you are. So use, it for chrissakes. Get down to Chowder Bay Mosman on Sunday Nov 16 and do what Steve Waugh, John Eales or Richie McGaw would do...lead the challenge. And bring the family. Even if you're not, you can bet your kids will be busting to win a medal."
"Entering the CEO Challenge? Well done." James Y.
[The other voice belongs to Candide McDonald]
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