Because sometimes last place is the best place from which to lead your team

By John Jarvis

It is my pleasure to serve on the Board of Advisors for YMCA Overnight Camps, where we oversee three great year-round resident camps: Camp Surf, Camp Marston and Raintree Ranch. It was in a conversation about Raintree Ranch, a camp where kids learn to ride and care for horses, where I learned something interesting. A dominant stallion will typically lead its herd from the back of the group. I knew this was true about wolf packs, and I’ve always thought it was cool and that it makes a lot of sense in the right circumstance. And what is the right circumstance to lead from the back? Let’s dig in.

Almost by definition, leaders are out front, they’re in the lead. They are often portrayed as the tip of the spear. Think of the opening battle scene in Gladiator, with Maximus hard-charging out in front yelling “Hold the line!” as the calvary advances and cuts off any exit for the suffering Germanic tribes.

And yet, in a wolfpack, the slower and weaker wolves are out front, followed by the stronger wolves who are followed at last by the Pack Alpha. It seems this is done to allow the weaker wolves to establish a pace that they can sustain and also to ensure that none are left behind.

I totally get this. When my wonderful wife, Sara, explained to me that our son, Colin, was going to be a boy scout, she quickly added, “And of course you’ll be the outdoor leader.” Which reminds me of my (half-joking) Adventure Guides trail name, “Yes Dear.” So I became the Troop 4 Outdoor Leader, and we went on lots of great overnight hiking treks all across Southern California. It is a massive responsibility, taking other people’s young kids into wilderness. Obviously, my absolute, highest priority, every time, was to never lose track of one of our scouts. So we created some protocols, like stopping at any fork in the trail in order to allow everyone to gather up and to make the trail choice together. And, you guessed it, yours truly was always “Tail Man Charlie” at the very back of the pack. I’m happy to report that I never lost a scout. I did lose one adult, but that is another story, and we found him eventually. Funny side note: kids are great, the only issues I ever had on trail in all of our treks were caused, every time, by an adult.

So how do we apply this notion of leading from the back to our everyday lives? Here’s how I see it.

There are definitely times when a leader should be “out front.” These include:

• When there is danger ahead, and rather than assign the risk to others, the leader steps forward and owns the burden and the risk.
• In a VUCA environment (variable, uncertain, complex and ambiguous), where the leader chooses to be out front in order to respond to events as they unfold, so that they can think and act quickly and own the outcome.
• Whenever a leader is establishing and/or reinforcing the mission, vision, values and culture of the organization. These things are not easily delegated.

And there are other times when perhaps it is best for the leader to fall back, and maybe all the way back. These include:

• When a primary mandate is “nobody left behind.”
• When a leader doesn’t have first-hand knowledge of a particular circumstance, and others do. These are times for a confident leader to trust others and for them to fall back.
• When a leader is otherwise engaged and/or occupied with a high priority issue or active threat and others are available to step forward and engage at the front. The Navy Seals call this Dynamic Subordination, in which the leadership hierarchy becomes fluid and circumstantial.

So there you have it, a simple concept for your consideration. Leaders aren’t always out front, with examples from horses, wolves, scouts and seals. Sometimes we step forward. Sometimes we fall back. And either way, if you’re with me, nobody is going to be left behind. Well, except that one time.