Learning to Rappel

More Search & Rescue (aka “SAR”) training this past weekend. This time, it was all about rappelling.

For some of you, rappelling might be your weekend go-to hobby. This was my 2nd time.

We spend the weekend in north Georgia learning all the basics of rappelling. We learned all the knots: bowline, square knot, figure 8, figure 8 follow through, figure 8 on a bight, double figure 8, prussic hitch, sheet bend, locking knot.

We learned how to tie our own rappel seat, and then prove that we knew it by heart by doing it in less than 90 seconds. When was the last time you had to physically make something that would literally hold you up? It’s quite the emotional challenge.

We learned how to belay another person, and we learned how it felt when another one of us was below, on belay, and was still learning how to do that. We all had to learn. Pain is a great teacher.

We learned how to lock-off. We cheered each other on when, one by one, we all got it.

When I joined the Georgia state guard (gasdf.us), I joined to (a) run into the danger zone when something went wrong in the state of Georgia, and (b) to show my kids the example of selfless service.

What I did not know I was getting is the best part: the camaraderie, brotherhood, friendship, and encouragement from a group of men and women I’d never met before.

Saturday night around the campsite jawboning with these fellow volunteer soldiers was peak fun. I laughed so hard I almost threw up.

I think that’s what we are all looking for when we join any organization, and specifically, when we join a new company. Simon Sinek discovered and shared that the bond created in small military units is unlike any other professional bond in the world. (https://lnkd.in/gUwrtKyd)

The challenge for all of us who are *not in a small military unit, but in the small business or corporate world, is how do we create an atmosphere that creates a similar bond?

I think the simple answer is for everyone to be present, fighting to accomplish each person’s individual goals, which all combine to meet the organization’s goals. Learn and fight together.

The picture here is me, about halfway down the rappel wall. No, I am not a Ranger. But that emblem is very cool. Makes you aspire to accomplish a tiny fraction of what Army Rangers do in a day.

We do have two retired US Army Rangers in our class. They are beyond words, but they contribute like nobody else to the entire atmosphere. Because they’ve been there and done all of that.