I recently competed in my first Scottish Highland games.

It was 8 hours of heavy events in the hot sun. I don’t think I’ve ever had that much fun at a competition. Also, there were three things I experienced at the games that make great leadership lessons.

Perhaps you are familiar with the Highland Games.

I was not.

I was soft and precious in my innocence. In fact, I had to look up most of the events up on YouTube two months before competing.

Most of my pre-competition prep was consumed with just trying to figure out the events.

Briefly, the games are kind of the Scottish Olympics. A core set of nine events primarily comprised of throwing heavy things like rocks and logs all day.

Throwing a rock looks simple. But it’s not.

And all the athletes are required to wear a skirt. I mean, a kilt.

Kilts also look simple. But I couldn’t figure mine out. Back to YouTube I went.

This was a more competitive event than I understood going into it. There were even pros competing. I didn’t know you could go pro in throwing heavy things.

Amongst the pros was at least one world record holder. She (and her cadre of pro’s) proved that Amazon warriors look nothing like Wonder Woman.

Actual Amazons smile a lot, are tall, have shoulders that force them to turn sideways in doorways and can pick up anything and throw it farther than you would think possible.

They also wear short skirts. Ok, that’s the same as Wonder Woman. (Before she switched to tactical Danskins.)

Can the Highland Games teach us about leadership?

As I mentioned, I had a lot of fun.

It was competitive. It attracted professionals. There was cash on the line for winners. Maybe rankings – I don’t know.

I began to wonder if what was happening at those games couldn’t also happen on leadership teams?

Leadership teams can be competitive. There is often cash on the line. People keep scores…

How to keep it feeling good? While promoting performance?

Three lessons from the Highland Games

1. Ego in the backseat: There was a surprising lack of ego amongst the athletes and judges.

Everyone I met was friendly. Many seemed to be actively interested in helping with the event. Even helping the competition.

How often do you go to an event and hear competitors correct a bad call the judges made in their competition’s favor?

For that matter, how often do you hear the judges invite correction?

What if leaders set their ego aside? What if they focused their efforts on “the event” and supporting each other?

When I’ve observed leadership team soap operas, at best they most often only result in Pyrrhic victories.

This is rarely acknowledged or even recognized. But arrogance seems to be a common attitude that robs value (and enjoyment) from many organizations.

Perhaps that is why the danger of hubris was such a common theme in Greek drama and literature.

Something to think about.

2. Active encouragement

Overall, I did fine for a newbie.

But I didn’t do well in the one event that I did seriously train for.

That was the farmers walk – where you carry 173lbs (346lbs total), in each hand, as far as you can.

I didn’t think I’d win but thought I could put in a decent showing.

Instead, I tripped after 5 feet. Right in front of the crowd and other athletes. Dropped one of the weights on my foot. It hurt, I felt embarrassed.

But immediately, one of the other athletes (the eventual winner) was at my side encouraging me.

This wasn’t unique. It was the normal experience.

People kept asking me if I was enjoying myself, if I was having fun.

More experienced athletes gave me pointers on my form – even on the rare occasions where I was doing better than they were.

What if leaders and partners actively encouraged each other? What if when someone fumbled other leaders (even the high performers) helped them get back up and going? Would it make a difference?

When leadership teams aren’t doing well, they tend to drift into silos, isolate and say nothing. Or they start to criticize and tear each other down.

But it what if they tried to encourage and support each other instead?

3. Striving for personal best

As fun as the event was and nice as people were – it was truly a competitive event. In the “class” that I competed with, we had a range of very experienced athletes and one new guy (me.)

The experienced athletes ranged from one guy who held several field records and easily dominated, to another who came in dead last in nearly every event.

What was interesting is that those two exemplified the above statements about ego and encouragement. They both invited critique, both were encouraging, both helped others.

Additionally, they both were intensely personally driven. I watched them keep close track of their scores and performance.

Neither really were competing against the group. One was too far ahead and the other was too far behind.

Instead, they were competing against their past selves, trying to set new personal records.

I found both to be inspiring and both helped me improve my performance.

What if leaders focused more on improving their own performance instead of checking on what everyone else was doing? What if leaders invited others to help them improve their performance?

If leadership was about throwing rocks

Leadership isn’t about throwing rocks and logs. I know leadership teams get more complicated.

• There is more at stake.
• The annoying people don’t go away at the end of the day.
• Sometimes others don’t play nice – what then?
• Sometimes your success depends on someone who won’t carry their weight – what then?

I know. I get it.

But still….

What if, as a leader, I focused on:

• Putting my ego in the backseat?
• Actively encouraging others?
• Striving for my personal best?

I’m pretty sure that things would tend towards working better. I’m guessing that at least some other leaders would be inclined to reciprocate.

I think that by helping everyone else do better, I’d do better myself.

It’s not an unreasonable proposition that your leadership team could also be a fun and productive experience as well.

Almost as fun as flipping logs!

Take good care,

Christian