How Would You Move Mt. Fuji?

This morning I managed to set and keep my priorities in line for the first time in quite a while. On Sunday morning I woke up early, washed and fed the dog, did the dishes, started the laundry, and took the time to clear my mind, calm my spirit and pray. It's such a simple thing that I rarely take the time to stop and do. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to give thanks, be happy and pray at all times…and I do.

I walk out the door every morning thanking the Lord for the great day I'm going to have and asking him to protect my family, faith and future. I ask him to bless me with the fruit of the spirit and arm me with the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-18). It's a powerful, sincere prayer that reminds me to believe on Him as well as in Him. There are tons of great prayers out there that I've heard people say works for them. This is just what I've found works for me at this season in my life.

That being said, as good as that constant conversation with Him is, there's something calming about just being alone with God. Taking the time to give Him my full attention does everything for me. They say the voice of God is like the call of the sea. No one can hear it but those who have in them the nature of the sea. I figure it's somewhere in those still, silent moments alone that we develop our sea ears. It was a good morning.

I had the pleasure of hearing Pastor Paul Mason share a message on TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) later that morning. He talked about how God has always built and worked through a team of people to move his Kingdom forward. Building God's Kingdom is a rather large task. It got me to thinking about a book I once read called How Would You Move Mt. Fuji. The book was a short explanation of Microsoft's riddle approach to interviewing candidates for key positions in the company. The questions are designed to see how you think. In most cases, the questions don't have any particular right or wrong answer; they are just designed so the interviewer can watch your wheels turn.

It's been about 4 years since I read the book and interviewed with MS. Since then I've been interviewed several times and heard many, many different riddles. To this day, "How would you move Mt. Fuji?" is still my favorite. Recently I had someone ask me the question again. Not surprisingly, my answer had changed.

Good riddles such as this stand the test of time because they speak to you at different phases of your life. I'll be completely transparent right now and admit that the first time I answered that question I included a cost and time breakdown as well as an attached note stating, "the actual costs may vary greatly depending on the relocation destination." That probably explains why I didn't get invited back for another interview ☺.

When I was asked the question again, my answer was shorter. It didn't involve shipping rates or currency exchange. It didn't depend on the annual rainfall in the South Pacific. My answer was simple. "How would you move Mt. Fuji?"

I'd believe I could do it.

Let me explain. Say I'm actually charged with moving Mt. Fuji. Hopefully you'll agree with me that Mt. Fuji is big enough that I cannot grab a shovel and hope to transplant it in my lifetime. That means that I'm going to need some help. In fact, it means I'll need a lot of help. I'll need an army of people – hundreds, maybe even thousands of people – all working together to get the job done. It means I'll need a team.

Any team that size is going to need leadership. What kind of leaders should I pull together? What characteristics should my leadership team have? Intelligence? A solid work ethic? Morality? Experience? Great communication skills? What should my team look like?

I've come to realize that what I want them to look like doesn't really matter. My team will look just like me. The book I read says that, "Like begets like." A friend of mine translated that for me one time as, "You can't make what you ain't is." That means that I can't create a team of people with great work ethics if I'm not a hard worker myself. I can't create a team of servant leaders if I don't serve people myself. I can't create a team of people with high moral standards if I don't hold myself to a high moral standard. Name the characteristic you want your team to have. It goes on and on. That's why leader is spelled "e-x-a-m-p-l-e."

So, my first step in moving Mt. Fuji is looking in the mirror and realizing that I've got some work to do on myself. If I want a great team to help me move the mountain, I'm going to have to shore up my own personal weaknesses. Am I a strong communicator? Am I good at facing and settling conflict? Am I a Godly husband? Am I the same in private as I am in person? Am I a liar? Am I good for my word? Am I a friend? Am I punctual? Am I an up-lifter of everyone around me? Am I a good listener? Am I an expert in the field I'm working in? Am I double minded? Ouch!!

Avoiding character issues is like scratching an itch with sand paper. It feels good for a second; but anything longer than that will scar you for life. I've been guilty of this. Truth be told, it's the reason I am where I'm at today. I looked in the mirror for a good 7 years convincing myself that there were no chinks in the armor. I kept telling myself that I didn't need to work on me. I convinced myself that if I surrounded myself with a bunch of people who had already faced their fears, mine would be hidden and they could pick up my slack. It was a nice idea, but it didn't work.

Life lesson 1: Influence is a prerequisite to leadership. People won't follow you if they have nothing to gain. In fact, your influence (and thus ability to lead people) is in direct proportion to the value to add to their life. The reason that I struggled so much to lead a team (baseball, work, friends, clubs, etc) of people way above my level was that I never had anything they wanted. If have less experience, money and character than everyone else, why would they follow me? Where could I possibly lead them that they couldn't go without me?

If you've ever watched cycling, associations are a lot like a peloton. A peloton is just a group of people riding together to reduce wind resistance. Rather quickly in any race, the top 10-20% of the riders naturally migrate toward one another to form the lead peloton. Everyone in the peloton is of comparable skill and focus. If you're a new or below average rider, your first competitive goal should be to catch up and ride with the peloton. It will make you stronger and teach you how to ride faster than you currently are. In fact the middle of the peloton is the best place to be in any race…unless you want to win. Winners see the peloton simply as a place where they can regain their strength before charging the front again. All winners know that the leader's jersey is never given to the middle of the pack. To be the leader means pulling away from the crowd and moving ahead.

It's the same way in life. Before I can lead anyone, I'm going to have to start separating myself from masses with good decisions, higher standards, and by taking more responsibility for who I am and where I want to go. It's called character and it's the foundation of all leadership. This is my first step in moving Mt. Fuji.

My next step in moving Mt Fuji is building my own belief. To do this I start digging. I dig when it's sunny. I dig when it's raining. I dig when it's snowing, sleeting and hailing. I dig in cold weather and the dead of night. I dig in the dog days of Summer. When I don't feel like digging anymore, I keep digging. I don't dig because I think I can move the mountain by myself. I dig because I'm proving to myself that the work is doable and I can do it. I'm proving to myself that even if no one else ever helped me move Mt. Fuji, I can and would still keep digging. I'm learning how to believe in myself.

Life lesson 2: Belief will always be found when going on faith one more time. I've found that the greatest part of any success is the journey. The journey is what makes it all worthwhile. It's where I earn my self-respect. It's where I begin to believe that I can win based on my decision not to quit. And it's where I choose to succeed based on my resolution to go one more time. It's called "one more time" mentality and it's the cornerstone of belief.

Consider Jesus. No one exemplified one more time mentality better than Jesus. Tied to a block and with the flesh torn from his back, he took a lash one more time. When the weight of the cross forced him to the ground, he willed himself back up and took another step forward one more time. When he hung from the cross with the weight of his body squeezing the air from his lungs, he pushed himself up and gasped for air one more time. Just before death, when he felt alone and abandoned in this world, he faithfully turned to prayer one more time. And when he had nothing left, having lost his very life, he rose from the grave to encourage us one more time.

Wherever there was a need, Jesus would go one more time. He never stopped moving forward. He stayed out front and never stopped saying, "You can do it too. You have what it takes. You can make a difference." That's a secret of leadership. Leaders don't weaken those around them by doing things for them that they can do for themselves. Leaders empower others to do things for themselves. Leaders know that if someone wants to rise up as a leader, they too will have to stand on their own and learn to go one more time. Leadership is never given; it must be earned. That's why leaders know the best thing they can be to their team is a good example. It is a constant reminder to the people on your team who want to become leaders of how to do so.

Life lesson 3: Belief is a snowball. That's why leaders never stand alone. As Bill Graham said, "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened." That's what Jesus meant when he told us that belief the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. It works like this: great leaders believe in themselves and their cause with such conviction that other people start believing in them. When people hear a great leader tell them they can do something, they start believing in themselves. When people start believing in themselves, success happens and the process repeats. Like begets like. The snowball starts moving. Pretty soon it's an avalanche. Look at back through history. Pick a hero. The story is the same. One man with belief is a majority.

This brings us back to the beginning. Belief is how you move mountains and it's how I'd move Mt. Fuji. I'd simply believe that I could do it. My belief would come from my knowledge of myself as a person as character and my unwavering commitment to do the work and prove to myself that the work was doable and I could do it.

I tell you that to remind you of this. Whatever your name; wherever your home; whatever your past or present circumstances; whatever cards you were dealt; the ability to move mountains lies in you. You can do it. Believe that you can move a mountain and start digging. You won't be digging alone for long.