Bunny Slopes to Black Diamonds: Lessons in Growth and Leadership
I was fortunate to spend the past weekend skiing with my kids, Ajay (9) and Adelynn (8), at my favorite mountain, Beaver Creek. As Spring moves in, snow conditions can be hit or miss, but I always enjoy the final turns of the season under blue skies and warmer weather. I’m also incredibly proud of the progress my kids have made on the slopes. Skiing with them is a truly enjoyable experience and something I am trying to cherish. There was something different this week, that stood out though. I was struck by the level of independence that they both had. Not just in the fact that they are getting older, but I got to see them truly building on skills they’ve been practicing for the past few years.
If you have ever skied with little kids, you know that it is quite the process, and more time is usually spent drinking hot chocolate than on the slopes. It takes tremendous patience to get them in all of their winter clothes, gather up their gear, and make it to the lift (hopefully without dropping anything). And right when you’re about to get on the first chair, is usually when someone needs to pee. Once you’ve got the bathroom break done, someone needs a snack. Then you finally do a run and someone is cold and needs that “hot chocolate” break. While we are pretty far removed from those days, the kids have still needed quite a bit of help up to this point.
On Sunday it was a different story. Both kids got up and immediately put on their base layer before breakfast. Then they gathered up their own gear, got everything on and as we walked to the lift, I snapped a picture of both kids carrying their own skis. A proud dad moment indeed! The independence continued as neither kid needed my help getting on and off the lifts, and they were the ones leading the way down the mountain taking turns picking the runs we would ski. When Ajay was done for the day after a few hours, my wife April came and got him, as Adelynn insisted that she wanted to keep skiing. Adelynn and I went on to ski all afternoon doing black runs, bump runs, tree runs, and we were always on the lookout for “jumps.” I coached her through challenging terrain that she had never done before and her confidence continued to build. We racked up over 21,000 vertical feet together and had smiles ear to ear at the end of the day.
Leadership is a journey that never ends and I’m not sure we always take time to reflect on the development of our people. Similar to my kids and skiing, people grow as leaders slowly over time. They gain new skills, expand their confidence, and begin to have greater impact. They become more independent and are able to take on new challenges. As they grow, the people in our care don’t need our help like they once did, they need help reaching the next level. And in order to help them get there, we must continue to learn and grow our own skills, expand our awareness of new tools and technology, and push ourselves to the next level of leadership.
I hope you’ll take a moment this week to reflect on the development of some of your team members. Let them know how proud you are of them, share how much you’ve seen them evolve, and highlight a new challenge you think they are capable of taking on. Then, take a moment to assess where you are as a leader. Is it time for you to level-up some of your own skills? Great leaders never stop learning, they truly embrace our MIBE conviction that There is always more to learn and room to improve. For me, in addition to the time I spend on my leadership development, this weekend made me realize that I probably need to spend time this Summer getting in better shape if I want to stay ahead of my kids next ski season!
Registration is open for our August Heart Leadership Workshop. This is a great opportunity for attendees level-up their leadership skills and to get clear on who they want to be as a leader!
