Leadership story: A leader's reaction in a difficult situation

There was once a group of tradesmen who were traveling from one place to another to buy and sell goods. They went wherever the trade took them and they had only but a couple of rules. One of them was that they never risk their lives or their cargo on the unknown. The other one was that they always keep their word and do everything possible to honor the deal they made. After a couple of years, their reputation spread across the land and their service was very sought after. Not that long ago during the course of their travels, they came across a city where they made a very lucrative deal of transporting certain goods from one town to another. For the group of tradesmen, it was business as usual, except they had to take a route they have never taken before to make the deadline of the delivery. This was not in any way a breach of their rules, as at the point of making the deal they didn’t know they would have to cross a desert that was extremely dangerous. The deal was struck and the caravan took off on their journey. After a short time on their journey, they came to the edge of an unknown desert. The leader of the caravan was a very careful and experienced man so he decided to ask around at the nearby village about the desert before continuing. Very soon he discovered that they found themselves in a very difficult situation. The desert was not like any other they faced before. It was more deadly and more treacherous, but they had no choice but to go through it as they were running out of time.

The leader of the caravan found out that, during the day, the sun heats up the fine sand so much that no one can walk on it, not even the camels. Also, there is no water on the surface to be found and it takes three days or three nights time to walk across the desert if you know your way. After informing all of the members of the caravan and taking some time to think things over the leader nevertheless decided to take the caravan through the desert at night when the sand cools down. Considering they would travel at night the traders hired a local guide, who could help them safely cross the desert. The next night they stocked up on water and started their journey in the desert, with the guide leading the way. After two nights they were almost at their destination. The trip proved to be more exhausting than they imagined in the first place. The problem was that many in the caravan couldn’t sleep during the day because of the heat and sunlight, and at night they couldn’t sleep as they were traveling. So when they started their journey on the third night many in the caravan were half asleep, as was the guide. Not long in the journey, the guide fell asleep sitting up.

As this happened the camel had no “orders” to stop so it continued walking as it pleased and the caravan followed without any questions. Finally, the sun was coming up and the guide woke up as well. Soon everyone in the caravan realized that they were back on the same path as they were one night before. So they stopped and started setting up camp to wait out the day and also to figure out what happened. After talking with the guide they figured that they are almost at the same spot as they were the night before. Realizing this they quickly checked if they have enough water to finish the journey safely. To their disbelief, they discovered that they had no water left. Only a couple of merchants had a couple of sips left but that was it. Realizing the difficult situation they found themselves in they started blaming the leader and the guide for their misfortune and how they will all die now. The leader knew they were in an extremely difficult situation and if his members would see him lose his courage many would die due to bad decisions they would make out of fear. Nevertheless, the leader calmed his members with a promise that he would find a solution, and that he only need a bit of time.

After the meeting, the leader started exploring the surrounding of the camp. Not far from the camp he suddenly noticed small patches of grass. He knew that grass needs water to prosper, and as it looked there was more than enough water to keep the grass alive through the intense heat. So he figured that there would be enough water for them also. He quickly called other members of the caravan to the spot where the grass was growing and explained his plan. Everyone agreed to dig and dig they did. Very quickly they stumbled upon a large rock that proved impossible to break. The members that were dealing with the rock lost hope and again started blaming their leader for the difficult situation they found themselves in, “It’s useless. You brought us out here even though you knew it was dangerous. You broke our number one rule. Then you gave us false hope and made us waste our time and energy with an impossible task. Who even knows if there is any water under this rock? You doomed us all.”

The caravan leader again understood the frustration his friends were dealing with. So he calmly stepped to the rock and looked at it. He noticed that the rock was for some reason wet. It almost looked like the rock was sweating. He knew that meant that there was water under the rock and it was pushing on the rock with great pressure. So the leader continued to hit the rock with different tools and soon he asked for the strongest person in the caravan to come and help him. The strongman was reluctant to help, but the caravan leader promised him the last of his water and additional riches when they would break the rock and after delivering the goods they were transporting. The strongman was finally motivated to try his best. And soon his best proved enough as the rock cracked just enough for the water to start pouring out of the cracks and making a big puddle from which every caravan member could drink and fill their canteens up with water. They finally had enough water to finish their journey the same night. This time everyone was looking over the guide that he didn’t fall asleep again. As the sun was starting to rise they arrived at their final destination and delivered the goods on time.