CUES CEO Institute III Day 3: Half Inch

I would like to take this time to introduce you today to what appeared to be my arch nemesis at the end of our day yesterday.

My shoe.

Now to be honest, I don’t have a a problem with the laces. I don’t have a problem with the tongue. When it comes to the half inch of the sole that hangs out on the inside of your foot, well, let’s just say he won’t be getting a Christmas card this year.

Today we spent our time on a ropes course experiencing different types of team building, team work, and team solving activities. Our closing adventure, which many of you have likely experienced before, or don’t intend to experience ever, was that of climbing a pole to the top and maneuvering yourself to stand on a small round piece of very flimsy plywood on top of said pole. Once up, you were to jump off and try to touch a dangling piece of rope several feet away from you.

Some of you may think that this sounds easy enough. Not so much, especially when you are a 235-pound man that isn’t very nimble on his feet. There was minimal problems getting up the pole, but the transition from pole to plywood proved to be difficult. This is when my arch nemesis comes in. As I sat on my knees on top of the pole, I just couldn’t seem to get my feet out from underneath me to allow me to stand up and that stinking half inch seemed to be getting caught on the plywood every time I tried to move forward.

But I did it... mostly due to the encouragement, coaching, and support I received from our team on the ground below.

As leaders, we set a plan in place to reach a goal. As we get close to the finish line, we can sometimes get slowed to a snail’s pace or get halted to a complete stop by the obstacles or barriers that we run into. What we surround ourselves with, like our friends, family, co-workers, mentors, and teams, will provide us with the coaching and motivation to help us get over that last hurdle so we can finally reach our end destination. We then jump off and start all over again with a new goal.

Our full team of 11 made it on top of the pole today because we were there for each other when we needed each other the most. Do the same for your teams.

TEAM MARMANT…….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Devin