The thrill of the soul

On April 10, 2010, in Successful leadership, by Neculai Fantanaru

Put to the test your possibility of relating more to people, by adjusting the meaning of your leadership according to your spiritual nature.

The ascension had to be done under the leadership of a guide accustomed with the dangers of the mountain and with team work. Montgomery Wick was the only able to lead to the accomplish this rescue mission full of responsibility, a very dangerous mission, the fulfillment of which, deserving words of encouragement and support, depended not only upon the will of the six alpinists, but also upon luck. It was not the first time when Montgomery Wick, this tall, vigorous, adventurous man, with a health, which could have challenged any doctor, was assigned with such a difficult mission, but, this time, many people doubted its success. And this is mainly because each of the team members was supposed to climb the mountain with a specific amount of nitroglycerin on his back, which could explode at any time.

Have you watched the movie “Vertical Limit (2000)”? Montgomery Wick manages to get with the rest of his team to the cave, which was covered by the avalanche, where all the survivors were, those they fervently searched for. However, this is the place where a dramatic, full of emotions and heart-breaking scene takes place.

When one man's soul raises and flies to save other souls

Just when they were trying to lift the two survivors with a rope, a piece of glacier fell off the cave's wall, and because the two were hanging on the same rope, they all four have fallen in the depths of the cave. The rope to which they were tied, could bear all four of them, but the ice axes could not resist any longer and had little until falling out from the cradle they were hammered in. It seemed nothing else could save them. The tragedy could happen in any moment. The will to live was strong, but a deadly terror seized their souls. Panic broke out altogether, and nothing could disarm it. All four of them, sunk into a terrible unrest, with their grieving souls, covered with a fierce despair, were dreadfully waiting for the end.

Strong characters can be spotted only at difficult times, only when they are confronted with those sensitive, undesired realities; only when, facing the danger, they need to make some sacrifices, choices dictated both by reason and by soul.

Montgomery Wick, the leader of the team, more animated by only one feeling – the love for his wife, who died on the mountain, and which he found just now, he found her frozen in this mission, he thought for a moment, and with a last struggle, with a last wish to live, he pulls out his penknife. He closes his eyes for a moment, says in his thought a short last prayer - a dying man's prayer, then he re-opens his eyes, and just like a devoted servant who gives his life for his master, thus achieving ultimate happiness, he cuts the rope, thus saving Peter and Annie, the ones being above him on the rope. Even so, unfortunately – or maybe as a divine punishment, Elliot Vaughn, the second survivor, who was actually the one responsible for the death of his wife, falls with him in the deep abyss of the cave.

The best leaders rule not only with their minds, but also with their souls

Being in the forefront of people can be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, as a leader, exerting a great influence upon people, you can dominate and control them, thus relying on their support and total commitment. That is you can enjoy your status, and the fact that you are surrounded by a team of devoted people, willing to make many efforts just to be able to help you in achieving more easily your goals. On the other hand, if you and your team find yourselves in a critical situation, well, in this case, you must be the one having a strong will in order to fight for every soul on the team.

Can you imagine what would your future bring? Can you put to the test your possibility to devote yourself to others when you climb on steep slopes? Or, you are like the one that takes a task and leaves it when it is approaching the climax of the mission? Could you endure the feelings which surpass people in the critical situations? Do you turn your back to your spiritual nature when you plunge into a difficulty?

If you are leading a mountain group, it is up to your duty to make sure of the success of the mission appointed to you, even if you will be confronted with difficulties apparently impossible to overcome. Ensure the people that no danger threatens them, or otherwise, put them on guard and act jointly with them.

The thrill of the soul is that inner vibration, that feeling of responsibility for the people in your team, which a leader must have it in any case, but especially in critical situations. The moral support can have beneficial effects, and the supreme sacrifice can sometimes save souls, but other times it can be useless.

I wonder how many leaders have this feeling of responsibility for their team. There are just a few! However, these are the leaders who had not forgotten that, first of all, they are still human.

Put to the test your possibility of relating more to people, by adjusting the meaning of your leadership according to your spiritual nature.