Crisis comes to our lives sooner or later. On March 3, 2024, during the 52nd Iditarod dog sled race, crisis visited Dallas Seavey.
The iditarod is a 1,000 mile trek goes from Anchorage to Nome, AL and is filled with danger. As reported in this article from The Athletic, Lauren Merola tells the incredible story of five-time champion sledder (known as a musher) Seavey’s encounter with a deadly moose. While moose look gentle and passive, they grow to between 800 and 1,600 pounds and can become quite dangerous if provoked.
When a moose “encountered” his dog Faloo, Seavey was forced to kill the wild animal out of self-defense with a handgun.
Now the story gets interesting.
Quoting Merola, “According to Iditarod Rule 34, if an edible big game animal — like a moose, caribou or buffalo — is killed in defense of life or property, the musher is required to gut the animal and report it to race officials at the next checkpoint. Mushers who follow must help gut the animal when possible and no teams may pass until the animal is gutted and the musher gutting the animal has proceeded. Any other animal killed in defense of life or property must be reported to a race official but is not required to be gutted.”
Race Marshal Warren Palfrey added, “(We) are making sure that every attempt is made to utilize and salvage the moose meat.”
Before getting to the leadership lessons from this story, check out the following news report of the incident:
4 Facts Leaders Must Know About Handling Unexpected Crisis Situations
The following are four facts about managing unexpected crisis situations we learn from this story:
Smart Leaders Anticipate, Prepare, And Train For Unexpected Crisis Situations
You will either prepare or repair because it is not a question of if unexpected crisis will happen, but when.
Fortunately for all involved, Seavey had prepared for wild moose, bear, and wolf attacks. He came prepared with the proper tools (weaponry/handgun) and was trained on how to use them.
As a leader, you must anticipate, prepare, and train for potential crisis situations in your industry. Your ability to “look around corners” may be the difference in the stability of lack thereof in your leadership.
We Need Each Other During Crisis Situations
We were not made to go through crisis situations alone. Having all the following mushers help gut the animal and salvage the meet is a wonderful policy. How wonderful would it by in your and my organizations if when one person or team suffered a crises situation, that everyone else became part of the solution?
Our Actions Affect Others
We do not live in isolation. Truly, we are our brother’s keeper. Our actions are like when a rock is thrown into a lake and the ripple effects have wide-ranging implications.
Seavey’s actions, even though corrected, still affected the other mushers behind him. Those mushers had to stop their own races and assist him in field dressing the animal.
Our actions definitely affect the schedules, responses, and resources of others.
Excellence Is Still The Standard Even During Crisis Situations
The injured dog Faloo would eventually return home safely from veterinary hospital and make a full recovery. That is the good news. The bad news is that despite saving his animals from the moose attack, Seavey would be penalized two hours for not properly gutting the moose.
No exceptions. The standard is the standard. Great leaders realize they are not being graded on curve.
Proper procedures and excellence were still required from Seavey regardless of the situation. The same applies to you and I during crisis situations.
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