And just like that, there were no more miners under the ground near Copiapo, Chile. They had all become temporary residents of Campo Esparanza (Camp Hope). Of course, the 24-hour, smooth as butter, rescue process now hides the 68 days of grueling, often halted, work that preceded it. Yesterday, I quoted David Gergen on leadership: "We have a crisis of leadership today. Business has failed. Governments have failed. People don't know who to trust." But watching Chilean President Sebastian Pinera drive the rescue efforts at the stricken mine, staying around the clock and then whooping and cheering and hugging every last miner who exited the torpedo-like escape pod, I decided that Gergen wasn't casting a wide enough net. Certainly, there are oceans where a crisis of leadership maintains today, but within those oceans are islands of cretive and decisive stewardship. And nothing proved that more than watching President Pinera. Already, commentators are asking what other leaders can learn from him. And while they're at it they can learn something about leadership from the miners as well. Their collective story says a lot about leadership, organizations and teamwork.
It was ironic that the recurring symbol of the rescue efforts in Chile was the turning of the wheel of the winch holding the rope attached to the rescue pod. As each miner entered the pod, the wheel would begin to turn, slowly at first, then steadily, as the pod made its way up the half-mile of rock to the surface. And Jim Collins WBF10 presentation kept coming to mind. What is leadership? What makes success? It's turning that flywheel (the wheel of your business), no matter how difficult the task, but slowly at first and then again and again until the momentum sustains itself, and even then, you don't stop. There was just something about that wheel over that mine.
When word of the mine disaster first hit the newswires, the presumption was that the miners were dead or would be soon. But President Pinera marshaled the forces of the world mining community, and he started turning that wheel, making the drive for success a collaborative one as well. Chile is a world mining powerhouse; its engineers designed and built the escape pod. But Pinera opened this rescue operation to the world. What is that Collins said (and fellow WBF10 speakers Jack Welch and Carlos Brito echoed)? Get the right people on the bus. That brought in a unique drill bit and drill rig manufactured by a couple U.S.-based companies; a Canadian company to transport the drilling equipment to Copiapo and an Australian drilling consultant, among others, to work alongside Chileans. And in the end, when the last miner (and the two rescuers who had descended into the mine to supervise the exit) stepped out into the night, the world was able to rejoice in the possibilities of collaberative effort. And it all started with truly inspired leadership.
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