"A shepherd should smell like his sheep"

I've always liked the 2006 movie "300", a fictionalized retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in the Greco-Persian Wars that lasted from around 499 BC to 449 BC.  The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC between the Persian Empire led by King Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under King Leonidas I.  At least according to the movie, King Leonidas I leads 300 Spartans into battle against  Xerxes I and his army of more than 300,000 soldiers.  Actually, Leonidas led the a Greek army of approximately 7,000 soldiers.

Thermopylae was (and still is) a narrow pass near the modern day town of Lamia in central Greece.  The narrow pass allowed the Greek army to block the only road by which the massive Persian army could traverse the narrow pass.  The Greeks successfully kept the Persians bottled up in the narrow pass for about two days, before a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed his homeland and revealed to the Persians an alternative route that would allow them to flank the Greek army.  Leonidas ordered the bulk of his army to retreat, save for 300 Spartans, 700 Thespians, 400 Thebans, and close to 1,000 helots (Spartan slaves).  In one of history's most famous last stands, Leonidas and the rest of the Greek rear-guard fought to the last man (with the notable exception of the Thebans, who reportedly surrendered).  

Steven Pressfield wrote a bestselling novel about the Battle of Thermopylae called Gates of Fire.  He tells the story slightly differently than the movie, "300".  In his novel, the Persians leave one last Spartan alive and bring him to Xerxes.  Xerxes asked the sole survivor why the rest of the 300 Spartans had sacrificed everything for their king.  He asked what it was about Leonidas that made him such a great leader, so great in fact, that his men were willing to die for him.  The last Spartan replied, "A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field.  A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall.  A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last.  A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them..."

As I have shared in the past, one of my former mentors used to say that he would never ask us to do something that he wasn't willing to do himself.  We talk about leaders "walking the walk" and "talking the talk" all the time, but the concept here is very different.  What I am talking about is more than just "managing by walking around" (MBWA).  Good leaders are clearly visible to their front-line teams.  Great leaders do even more - they experience what their front-line teams experience.  Leonidas didn't just ask his Spartans to give up their lives for the greater good.  He actually died fighting alongside them.

The late Pope Francis said, "A shepherd should smell like his sheep."  Admiral (retired) William McRaven, writing in his book, The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy) calls it "trooping the line" - leaders at all levels (even those in the C suite) need to step out of their offices and engage with their teams in their day-to-day tasks.  He tells the story of a time that he participated in PT (in this case, a hard, long run with the rest of the team) as a Navy SEAL after he had promoted to Admiral.  A young officer ran up to him and told him that he didn't have to run with the rest of the team - he had already proven himself during a long and distinguished career.  He refused to stop, writing, "The day you no longer believe you have something to prove, the day you no longer believe you must give it your all, the day you think you are entitled to special treatment, the day you think all your hard days are behind you, is the day you are no longer the right leader for the job." 

By refusing special treatment, Admiral McRaven showed the rest of the team that he was not above doing himself whatever he would ask them to do, at that moment in time or any moment in the future.  He showed his team that he cared, and as a result, they trusted him.  As I reflect on the last few years as a leader, I recognize that I have an opportunity to be a better leader by experiencing firsthand, what the rest of our physicians, nurses, and staff get to experience every day.  Leonidas I of Sparta, Pope Francis, and Admiral McRaven, as it turns out, have a lot in common.  And they have even more to teach us.