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Last week, August 6, was the fifth anniversary of Extortion 17, the helicopter flight that carried 32 of our nation’s most elite counter-terrorism forces to attempt to answer the call to protect their brothers in arms until it was shot down by Taliban forces. Two Army ranger elements, entrenched in volleys of gunfire with Taliban insurgents, each found themselves in situations where they needed support. With U.S. forces and resources spread all over Afghanistan, a quick reaction force of Navy SEALs boarded a helicopter to answer their comrades’ calls.
Working in small numbers already, the SEALs had no choice but to bring everybody. They boarded Extortion flight 17 to help their Ranger brethren and, in the end, paid the ultimate price. One lucky shot made by the Taliban took down the helicopter with a rocket propelled grenade. All aboard perished.
The story of Extortion 17 and the heroes aboard underpin the selflessness that every leader, every organization aspire towards yet few actually achieve: to work and live for something greater than oneself; to “fill the gap” and answer the call for help whenever and wherever it is needed.
Filling The Gap
In ancient Greek battles, Spartans were considered elite through their warrior repertoire of unique fighting skill blended with insurmountable will. They did everything together—eat, sleep, train, fight—which ultimately led to their main battlefield advantage--the phalanx.
A phalanx was row upon row of Spartans all marching in the same direction with one shared purpose: to win at all costs. When viewed from afar, the phalanx appeared as one long wall of shields which turned out to be morally corrosive to the enemy, but up close, one could see that the phalanx wasn’t really one inseparable unit but rather a row of individuals tightly joined to his neighbor, thereby protecting the person by his side.
The phalanx was effective because each warrior’s shield covered the exposed area of the person beside him. When one Spartan went down or could no longer protect himself, his teammate would immediately fill the gap where the down Spartan lay because that was the immediate vulnerability posed to the rest of the team. In other words, the phalanx served as a single chain of fighters, and if a link became broken then another Spartan would immediately jump in to fill that gap.
How You Can Fill The Gap
To fill the gap means to serve others before serving oneself. Servant leaders recognize that enabling others serves the betterment of the team while also building oneself. To quote Robert Greenleaf, widely considered the founder of Servant Leadership: "The servant-leader is servant first. . . It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first."
Servant leadership isn't to think less of oneself, but to think of oneself less. - Anonymous
Leadership, then, is a byproduct of serving others; it's the intangible value you create in others who don't even realize they're being led.
The act of service--of filling the gap--presents itself in a variety of ways. Here are a few ways you can fill the gap:
- Helping a co-worker carry copies to the printer
- Coaching a worker through a task
- Dropping what you’re doing to help your spouse unload groceries
- Spending the 25 cents or one dollar at a child’s lemonade stand to encourage entrepreneurship
- Allowing someone else to cut in front of you while waiting in line
- Taking the extra three seconds to let traffic merge into your lane (and not trying to "own" the lane)
- Helping someone in the gym who doesn’t understand proper technique
- Showing someone around who’s unfamiliar with directions
- Offering to take a picture of a group so they can include everybody in the photo
- Actively listening (which means not thinking of what to say next)
To fill the gap is to serve a purpose. What gap will you fill today?
