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Part of what makes the great Iditarod race such an inspirational feat is the level of teamwork necessary at every step.

What looks like a bunch of dogs all doing the same job is actually a multi-faceted team—trained, orchestrated, and equipped by their musher.

A full team is made up of 16 dogs, running in 4 different positions. Every dog has a particular strength, and every musher knows exactly which dogs will play each position best.

It takes the same analysis and social understanding to create a winning team in the workplace!

Let’s look at each pack member in detail and how their strengths translate to your team. Keep in mind which of your own members would thrive in each position.

Who Are Your Lead Dogs?

Lead dogs know their way on the trail without being watched, and you can trust them to make decisions guiding others on the team.

Lead dogs are smart, possess initiative, common sense, and the ability to perform even in less-than-ideal conditions.

How can you tell which of your team members will execute well as a Lead?

Some will take that initiative pretty early. But sometimes you take a leap of faith on an untested pack member— and they surprise you

Let the Leads get to know your heart, and keep them close. Learn to develop a mutual intuition, and give them access where the rest of the team might not have.

Watch for their health so you don’t have to replace them. Make sure their “paws” are in good shape—in other words, make sure they are free to run without anything hindering their running with full potential.

Stay Prepared with Swing Dogs

The best teams have members who can operate in other positions. The Lead can be a burdensome place that wears, wearies, and stresses.

So it’s natural for mushers to have their ‘leaders in waiting’ to run in the next position—which is Swing. These dogs have to be leaders in their own right, and for many, becoming that Lead dog is the next natural step.

Swing dogs are directly behind the leader, understanding the leader’s moves and translating that to the rest of the team.

They ‘swing’ the rest of the team behind them in turns or curves on the trail. They protect the Lead dogs from attempting a turn—only to find the rest of the team choosing not to follow!

They are crucial to making sure everyone makes the journey and stays in sync.

Pro tip: When Swing dogs are able to rotate with the Leads, both sets will remain fresh and the results will show.

The Powerhouses: Your Team Dogs

Not everyone on your team will be a Lead dog. In fact, if you had a pack full of them, your mission would probably fail. Chaos would ensue with everyone trying to lead.

That’s why, settled in the middle, are Team dogs.

They don’t have to be concerned with the stress of leading, and the sled is a comfortable distance behind them. They are free to simply pull with power and run.

These pack members make up the momentum and pull as you need to get the race done. To get the project finished. To keep going towards the prize.

Most of your Team dogs will never be Lead, and they are fine with that. But you know what? If we didn’t have them, we couldn’t do what we do. They are vital to every pack—and every business.

We should accept that the race is not their life—and let them run from 8 to 5 as hard as they can, then clock out and leave it all.

Steady the Sled with Wheel Dogs

Wheel dogs run at the back of the pack, but are important for the steadying element they bring the entire team.

It takes a calm and even temperament to run close to the jolting, unpredictable sled.

These dogs know how to pull with power and steadiness to maneuver the sled around turns and rough bumps. (Not all dogs can handle it, nor should they.)

The “sled” is not always pretty—things like cash flow and layoffs and contingency planning. There are things in your business that not every pack member needs to see and will scare some off.

Which people do you allow close to the sled of business?

Team dogs need to run unhindered from the burdens of the sled. But remember, even Wheel dogs that are closest to the sled are still not on the sled itself.

Though Wheel dogs are seasoned confidantes, people you count on to help you turn the business, they’re not meant to be pack mules for your emotional burdens.

Keep an eye on those boundaries, establish outside sources of emotional care and support, and you’ll keep the Wheel runners—as well as the team as a whole—healthy.

Create Your Racing Team

Of course, your people aren’t actual racing dogs. And you probably don’t wake up every morning, tie on your fur hat, and climb into a wooden sled.

But it’s still true that how well your team performs is in direct proportion to how well you know your people and put them in the right spot on the team.

All positions are necessary. Knowing which ones your team members naturally play and allowing them to run there not only increases their satisfaction, but can lead to better team performance in the long run.

Building the perfect team is rarely a sprint—more like an adventure of endurance that is wildly rewarding to those who take the time to learn and truly prepare.

As always, if I can help you maximize your team’s unique talent, drop me a note using the form below.

The R.A.C.E. Method for Leaders to Execute with Excellence

After mushing with huskies in Alaska as part of the Iditarod race experience, I developed The R.A.C.E. Method™ to help leaders cross the finish line consistently and achieve remarkable results.

If you’re about to take a leadership position, currently lead a team, or you simply aspire to lead the pack one day, take these skills with you every step of the way.

The reality is this: To reach your destination, you have to prepare for the trail!

RACE-ready leaders rise to the top because they’ve put thought and strategy into their team-leading. That’s why this proven process based on Iditarod success can empower you to achieve exponential results.

Ready: Prepare Before You Set Out

The R stands for Ready.

Before any veteran musher takes to the trail, he or she has to prepare—or risk certain death on the trail. A pre-race groundwork of strategy, expectation, and research will make or break success across 1,000 miles of wilderness.

Too many leaders tend to value action over planning, and businesses often unofficially adopt the motto, “Fire, Ready, Aim.”

But to produce—or compete—at the highest level, you have to first be Ready.

No one can cover every contingency, but a Ready leader prepares for the mission ahead by asking pointed questions like:

What’s our vision?
How will we run the race?
How far will we go before we rest?
What does my team look like? What should it look like?

RACE-ready leaders figure out where their teams excel. Are they sprinters or long-distance runners? Do we have the right balance of talent and endurance?

Ready leaders have done the research on competition. What advancements do others have that we need to learn? How do the top teams prepare?

The Ready leader knows these things—not to be arrogant—but because he or she knows that only by understanding the trail, the mission, the team, and the sled will they be ready for the obstacles ahead. If the leader isn’t prepared, then no one truly is.

And this just scratches the surface of all that goes into being RACE-ready, so keep asking questions. Keep planning. Keep making your team the best it can be.

Action: Keep It Simple

The A stands for Action. The best race strategy, if left in the lodge and not implemented, is always trumped by a marginal strategy implemented to the fullest.

Remember that your behavior determines your team’s success. When the leader understands the timing, then the team understands the execution, and they can be coached to the highest level of performance.

Make sure everyone on the team knows their roles, responsibilities, and actionables, then keep it simple. To execute successfully, you will need both Action and simplicity.

Without Action, you’ve got a nice idea and nothing else. Without simplicity, you’ll never move out of the kennel because no one will understand what to do.

Racing dogs are happiest when they have a clear job to do. They need a job. Don’t try to pull the sled by yourself and let the rest follow along. It’s dogs before sled, not sled before dogs.

Checkpoint: Break It Down

The C stands for Checkpoint.

If you never stop to assess your progress, you can’t be sure you are on course. There are 26 checkpoints in the Iditarod race. All serve a purpose—and mushers are thankful for each one. There’s no way they could wrap their minds around a journey of 1,100 miles all at once.

It helps to break the race down into segment runs. That’s something even the dogs know is achievable. Each segment’s terrain is different. Each piece of the journey stands on its own.

Both in the Iditarod race and in leadership, checkpoints become critical. They help you assess where you are, determine if it’s where you should be, and provide opportunities to make micro-adjustments before you get too far off track. Checkpoints can be:

A deadline
A group meeting
A scheduled assessment of goals
A 1-on-1 check-in with a mentor or team member
Even a planned moment to rest

At all your Checkpoints, take the time to evaluate your experience over that terrain. If things went well, amazing! Be sure to celebrate.

If things didn’t go so well, record the lessons learned so that you can run the race better next time.

Evolve: Never Stand Still

Finally, the E stands for Evolve. If you fail to evolve, if you fail to change, if you fail to adapt, you will die. It happens in nature, in careers, and out on the trail.

Evolving is a matter of continuous improvement where you make field adjustments to people and processes so you stay on track and always get better.

List everything you could have done better. What is in your power to improve? How can you make the corrections now and apply them to the process before the next race?
List everything that worked well. How can you systemize these steps to make them repeatable and your next project more efficient?\
What lessons can you learn from the execution of your plan and how can you implement them going forward?

The freeing part is that Evolving leaders are never stuck doing the same old things, repeating the same “average” results.

If you’re not satisfied with the way your team is running; if your goals feel overwhelming—or not “whelming” enough—you can change that!

Just look at the information you learned at the Checkpoints and your evaluated experiences, and put it to use in your daily running.

Are You Ready to R.A.C.E.?

No one becomes RACE-ready overnight. But just like in sledding, a team-leading victory isn’t all about speed. You need preparation and endurance.

So before your next adventure, remember the wisdom from Alaska’s mushers:

Get Ready for the trail by asking questions.
Take Action—but keep it simple.
Remember to Check your progress regularly.
And always be down to Evolve the plan.

It’s an exciting process, one that just might change your team in ways you never expected

In fact, if you’d like to learn more about The R.A.C.E. Method™, how to apply it in your organization, or engage other leadership and training resources, just send me a message using the form below and we’ll start a conversation.

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How Iditarod Can Help You Create a Winning Team