10 Leadership Principles We Learn From the Chilean Miners Rescue

A co-worker shared this with me and I just had to pass it along.

WHEN GOOD LEADERSHIP HAPPENS

(10 Leadership Principles We Learn From the Chilean Miners Rescue)

 

By John Hull, President EQUIP

 

   Last night's dramatic conclusion of the rescue of 33 Chilean miners trapped beneath the earth, for almost 70 days, captured the attention of the world with over 1 billion television viewers.  What captured me beyond the joy of seeing these men rescued was the overwhelming and obvious success resulting from good leadership both in the mine and on the ground.

 

 

 

     So here's what I learned watching good leadership happen near the Chilean mine shaft and rescue:

 

 

 

1.       Good Leaders get organized on the front-end of a crisis. If you will look at the details of how the "lead miner" got his 32 followers organized into routines, regiments, etc., you will be blown away.  He organized like Nehemiah did when he arrived in Jerusalem amidst the rubble.  Likewise, on the ground, the president of Chile put together a coalition of Chileans along with fourteen other countries.  Because both the miners and "the drillers" were organized, things flowed more smoothly from start to finish.

 

 

 

2.      Good Leaders take risks in doing what is right in spite of personal, positional or political outcomes.  The president of Chile, still in his first year of his term, was not that popular with the public, according to news reports.  However, we are being told that from the moment he learned of the miners being trapped, he fully engaged and put all his focus on the crisis promising to spend whatever it took to free his fellow citizens.

 

 

 

3.      Good Leaders surround themselves with a coalition of the best and brightest individuals in their fields of expertise.  The president of Chile immediately engaged scientists and engineers from the mining industry and NASA.  He brought in naval submarine experts, medical experts and mental health professionals.  He sought their counsel and took their advice - and empowered them to fulfill the mission.  The president demonstrated personal and professional security.

 

 

 

4.      Good Leaders Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. If you follow the story of the rescue, communication was all over the place.  The leader of the miners was communicating with his team and the rescuers on the ground.  The leader of Chile was communicating with the rescuers and the general public.  The press had access and communicated events to the world.  There was communication of the "real-time" rescue with cameras and microphones in the cave.  There was a communication plan to delay coverage of the rescue actions for about 30 seconds, so that if a tragedy occurred in the rescue, the cameras could be shut off to protect the public from seeing that kind of potential horror - which could traumatize the nation.  Finally, not long after the last miner was rescued, the president communicated to the nation and the world the results.

 

 

 

5.      Good Leaders promote an environment of creativity and ingenuity.  The president set a tone and brought in a team which was mandated to get the job done.  I saw no reports of what lawyers, environmentalists, or union leaders were saying.  The president took a "whatever it takes" attitude, empowering his team to create, build, drill, test, retest, check, recheck, etc.  The president gave them a job - and then gave them the freedom to do their job.

 

 

 

6.      Good leaders pay attention to details.  Reports coming in are telling us that just about every conceivable detail was covered by the rescue team.  It spanned from who would be first to come up and who would be last, to concerns of panic attacks inside the capsule.  They thought through who should be standing near the mine.  They provided clean clothes and sunglasses to protect the miner's eyes.  The overall health and welfare of the miners were of eminent importance. Inside the mine, the "lead miner" had detailed instructions within the mine as to food rations, cleanliness, water supplies, bathroom facilities, when lights would be on and when lights would be off (to maintain orientation of days and nights)...and on an on it goes.

 

 

 

7.      Good Leaders think about the best case outcomes and worst case outcomes.  The leaders who oversaw this rescue project had at least a half dozen or more contingency plans if the mission was flawed from the start or took a wrong direction as the rescue proceeded.  Reports are coming out that the leaders laid out what could happen from the "best to worst" of a precarious, unprecedented situation.

 

 

 

8.      Good Leaders stay close to the center of the crisis.  Did you notice that the president of the country stayed near the drill hole opening for just about all the 24 hour period of the rescue?  He stood there and then greeted each miner after they were initially checked out and unharnessed from the capsule.  He was almost always there, standing near the very center-point of crisis and concern.  Very impressive.

 

 

 

9.      Good Leaders walk slowly through the crowd - and express their gratitude.  John Maxwell, as you know, has taught this principle for years.  If you watched the final miner being rescued (who was the "lead miner"), you noticed that while all the previous miners had greeted the president and then their families and then were put on stretchers for medical observation; the "lead miner" tarried after greeting and conversing with the president- and then greeted and thanked just about everyone around him.  He was slow, deliberate and intentional.  He may have had on sunglasses, but no one questioned his eye contact with them. Then, I found it amazing that he wasn't placed on a stretcher when he left the scene, he walked away under his own power!  Cool.

 

 

 

10. Good Leaders Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate!  Did you notice every time a miner was placed in the capsule, or released from the capsule - and even in the middle of the journey from the cave to the surface, there was emotional cheering and celebration!  They would sing, chant, hug, laugh, and cry.  They knew how to celebrate - and the president was right in the middle of the joy singing and chanting with everyone else.

 

 

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