Nine Minutes on Monday: The Quick and Easy Way to Go From Manager to Leader

14The View from Up HereWhy Belief Matters

When the best leader’s work is done, the people will say: “We did it ourselves.”

—Lao Tzu

When we finally reached the ridge Osvaldo had marked out for us, there was a mixture of disappointment and relief. I was so tired that I was happy we could now begin our return trip back down the mountain. Yet there was a part of me—at least a tiny voice deep inside—that expressed its disappointment. I had trained for so long, worked so hard, and traveled so far to accomplish this goal, and yet here I was only a few minutes from turning around and retreating in defeat. All kinds of justifications swam through my foggy brain in an attempt to quiet the inner dissent. “It wouldn’t be safe.” “It’s getting late in the ...