'Who's Holding Your Ladder' is considered to be the latest fad in the motivational book market. The book written by Samuel R Chand garnered rave reviews and is one of the best-sellers in this category. For the benefit of readers, popular blogger and keynote speaker Skip Prichard shares the experience of his interaction with the man himself.
Excerpts from his blog:
When I questioned Samuel on the idea behind his work, he said, "One day, I noticed a man on a ladder painting. I could see that he was only covering a limited area. He stretched as far as he could to the left, to the right and even reached above his head. It also occurred to me that he was only going to the height that he was comfortable at, even though the extension ladder he was using could reach much higher".
"Why isn’t he going higher to paint all the way up? What would allow him to go higher?” I asked myself. Then I saw the reason—no one was holding his ladder. By himself, the painter couldn’t go any further. He had done everything he could by himself. He needed help".
He went on, "As I watched his graceful strokes, I realized the leadership parallels. Whether we’re talking about churches, businesses or non-profit organizations, the effectiveness of a leader depends on the person or persons holding the ladder—those who are in support roles.
The height that a visionary leader reaches on the ladder to their vision is not controlled by the leader’s capabilities. It’s not even controlled by how inspiring their vision might be. It’s controlled by who’s holding the ladder.
Then another thought struck me: Those who hold the ladders are as important as the leaders themselves".
Next, when Prichard asks him to elaborate on how leaders should acknowledge those who hold the ladders, Samuel says, "There’s no such thing as a “self-made” person. Someone gave us our first break. Someone took a risk and believed in us. Someone leveraged their credibility for our sake. Someone forgave us and gave us another chance. Someone knew we had messed up yet defended us to those who wanted us vanquished. Therefore a spirit of humility and dependency will be the attitude that exudes appreciation for our ladder holders".
When queried on how does one decide who is the right person to hold the ladder, Samuel stated, "I don’t want those who need constant reminding, I don’t want those who behave casually, I don’t want résumé builders and I don’t want unhappy people".
Elaborating on his 'why being more important that how', Samuel said, "Those who know “how” will always work for those who know “why.” Since every good leader wants to make sure that their ladder holders also become ladder climbers, we must invest in deeply exploring the “why” which will empower the “what” and “how.” That is why, tying everything an organization does to its mission is crucial to sustainability and scalability".
On how to identify and avoid the negative group of people, the author said, "People who see themselves as “above” anything are already on a downward slope and don’t even know it. Ladder holders help others succeed. They are as excited to see others move higher as they are for their own successes. I would say to such a leader, “Don’t think higher of yourself than you really are. For you to go higher now, you will need ladder holders more than ever before. Think lower of yourself and higher of your ladder holders.”
Finally, when asked what is his idea of an effective leader, Samuel says, "S for Strong—people who can handle instruction and correction, T for Teachable—people who are still curious and want to learn, A for Attentive—people who learn quickly, F for Firm—people who are not blown around by manipulative people and F for Faithful—people who believe in me (trust) as a leader'.
Courtesy: www.skipprichard.com
