The late Susan Butcher, four time winner of the Iditarod, and the first woman to place in the top ten finishers, taught me a lot about how to treat the people around me who support my work. I believe it is important to “go the extra mile” when it comes to nurturing what amounts to my support team on my job.

For those who don’t remember, the Iditarod is the annual dog sled race in Alaska. It covers over 1150 miles and requires the mushers – or dog sled drivers – to take their team of 12-16 dogs through rivers, forest, mountain ranges and tundras, often in strong winds and temperatures far below zero. The race takes competitors 10-17 days to finish.

The Iditarod web site explains: “It’s not just a dog sled race, it’s a race in which unique men and woman compete. Mushers enter from all walks of life. Fishermen, lawyers, doctors, miners, artists, natives, Canadians, Swiss, French and others; men and women each with their own story, each with their own reasons for going the distance. It’s a race organized and run primarily by volunteers, thousands of volunteers, men and women, students and village residents.”

Every musher has his or her own procedures for when to run, how long to run, and when to feed and care for the animals. But Susan Butcher attributed much of her success to her emphasis on tending to the needs of her dogs first. "You have to be very selfless in your dedication to your dogs," she once told the Los Angeles Times. "When you come into a checkpoint, although there may be a wood stove to warm your feet by, you stay outside; you take care of your dogs, get them bedded down and fed." Other mushers sometimes felt taking extra care of the dog sled team was a waste of precious time in the race, but Susan felt her attention to the dogs was a key element of her success.

So, when I work in a leadership role, and schedule a meeting or event, I try to offer people who have given up their time to attend something to eat or drink -- even if it is not a mealtime. And if a meal is served, I try to stay away from ordering a pizza for the volunteers. First of all, ordering pizza is a common fall back plan for all of us who occasionally find ourselves too busy or too worn out to cook at home. And I want to nurture those who give time to support programs I plan by feeding them something that makes them feel special and cared for. Good coffee, bottled water, salad or fresh fruit cost a little more than pizza and soda, but are healthy and show that I am willing to go the extra mile to support the people who, in the end, may make a difference in whether or not the project we are working on is a winner.