I tested my leadership ability by starting a volunteer organization.

"Most natural leaders don't aspire to be great leaders; they aspire to be great persons." ~ John C. Maxwell

We started mountain biking in 2008...

My wife Ria and I began mountain biking in 2008 as a hobby. Within a few years, we were riding our bikes ~2,500 miles annually and competed in 17 races per year in 2011 (~10 mile races) and 2012 (~20 mile races). Ria was the Alabama and Georgia State Champion in her class both years.

In late 2011, we were informed of a group meeting to discuss constructing mountain bike trails locally at Chewacla State Park in Auburn, Alabama.

We were excited. At the time, we only lived a mile from the park but had normally been driving 45 minutes or more one way to ride the nearest trails. That required a lot of time and a lot of gas. Often, we would travel 3-4 hours one way to spend the weekends riding trails throughout the southeastern states. Sometimes, we traveled A LOT farther away. The picture below was taken in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

We started volunteering to build trails in 2011...

Ria and I contacted the group and met with them at their initial meeting at Chewacla State Park to find out if we would be allowed to build trails. It went great!

We received permission from the Park Manager, Dell Banks, to begin constructing trails. We and about eight other volunteers started construction. We were simply a small group of people who wanted to build trails we could ride close to home.

In the coming months, we had more people joining our group and were gaining momentum.

We weren't building these trails with machines. We were building them by hand! The volunteers put in many thousands of hours of hard physical labor. However in the spring of 2012, Dell said we would need to halt new construction until we formed a formal organization to maintain and sustain the nearly 14 miles of trail we had completed in just under six months.

It was time for a bigger sacrifice...

Our group decided to form an official chapter of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA). We were going to become the newest chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycling Association (SORBA), a regional division of IMBA. The name of our non-profit would be the Central Alabama Mountain Pedalers (CAMP).

Many members of the group wanted me to be the founding President, but I wasn't so sure I wanted to make that type of commitment. Showing up whenever I wanted to help out a bit wasn't a big deal. I enjoyed it. But, I knew leading a 100% volunteer startup organization would be a challenge and a real test of my leadership ability. It would be a lot of work!

At the time, I was super busy with my lean manufacturing consulting business. I was far away from home leading 5-Day kaizen events each week. I was in Texas every other week and traveling an hour away from my home in Alabama on the weeks in between. I was booked solid.

Ria and I had several long talks to determine if we wanted to sacrifice two years to grow and develop this startup organization. As we begin to think deeply about it, I considered something I had read in one of John C. Maxwell's leadership development books:

"If you truly want to test your leadership ability, join a volunteer organization and see how effective you can be when no one has to follow you." ~ John C. Maxwell

I knew this would test my leadership ability like nothing I had ever done. It was time to put all that I had learned up to that point to the test.

Would I thrive? Or, would I take a dive?

Either way, it would be obvious if I succeeded and obvious if I failed. There would be no hiding.

"He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure." ~ James Allen

I volunteered to lead a group of volunteers...

"No matter their level, leaders attract a 'tribe' or group that volunteers to follow because of who the leader is (character), what the leader knows (competency), and where the leader is going (vision)." ~ Mack Story

After much thought, we decided to make the commitment together. Ria agreed to help me and accepted the role of Secretary. I would lead the startup organization as the Founding President.

It was time to assemble an effective leadership team.

I was able to attract and recruit many high impact people from the community who shared many values and natural leadership skills. I quickly filled the CAMP board with great people who valued helping others and making a positive difference in the community. There was a national champion head coach from Auburn University, the Chewacla Park Manager, an individual who was an attorney, a city council member, and ultra trail runner (he was a tremendous 3 in 1 asset), a photographer/website designer, a bike shop owner, and a few others.

I was happy Philip Darden accepted the role of Vice-President. He had a passion for cycling and the outdoors. He also possessed a very teachable spirit and wanted to learn more about leadership which, along with his natural leadership abilities, would make it easy for me to help grow, develop, and prepare him as time passed. I expected he would take over my role as President when my term was complete. I wouldn't be sticking around. I planned to completely withdraw from the organization once it was up and going.

We made it happen!

"Who do we influence? We influence those who buy-in to us. Only those valuing and seeking what we value and seek will volunteer to follow us. They give us or deny us permission to influence them based on how well we have developed our character and competency." ~ Mack Story

CAMP membership grew to 150 members before we had finished filing the paperwork to become an official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization! Those of us on the board and those who had already been volunteering were able to leverage our influence in the community in a big way. So, we started out strong with a lot of support. That was always the goal.

With Ria’s help, we secured two Recreational Trails Program grants: a $10,000 grant to purchase an enclosed trailer and tools and a $100,000 grant to further develop the trail system within the park. We built additional trails and features and made a significant impact on the amount of revenue the park was generating by increasing the number of visitors tremendously.

Park revenue nearly quadrupled in just a few short years. Previously, there were few people visiting the park. After CAMP built the mountain bike trail system, it was common to see a long line of cars waiting to enter the park. Annual Park Pass sales increased 290% in 2012. It became a destination that people would travel to from throughout the state and from surrounding states.

In the fall of 2012, I was invited to speak at the International Mountain Biking Association's (IMBA) World Summit in Santa Fe, NM to share what we had done and how we did it. While there, I attended a session where the CEO of IMBA was speaking to all attendees. One thing he stated, shocked me.

He said:

"On average, it takes 10 years to go from thinking about forming a an IMBA chapter to riding on trails built by the newly formed chapter." ~ IMBA CEO in 2012

The 10 years the CEO referenced is the time it takes a group to come together, organize, and officially form an IMBA chapter (which includes all the legal processes of forming a non-profit business), establishing and developing all the necessary relationships with land owners and gaining permission to build trails on their property, recruiting board members, attracting and assembling enough of the various chapter members/volunteers to make it all happen, raising money for tools, equipment, and supplies, and finally physically building the trials.

WOW!!! We had done it all in just 6 months! No doubt, this is why I received an invitation to speak at the IMBA World Summit.

Not only were we riding on the trails we had built, but we had built nearly 15 miles of single track trail, multiple bridges, and several wooden features. I had also convinced a race promoter to hold a mountain bike race in the park in the summer of 2012. By race day, we were ready. We made it happen!!! We had over 100 participants.

There's just a bit more to the story, but I want to share a few videos and pictures of a couple of key features that we built before I wrap it up. Today, there are A LOT of wooden and dirt features along with over 30 miles of mountain bike trails.

It was time to step aside...

"Wisdom is the ability to relate yourself to nature’s laws so as to make them serve you, and the ability to relate yourself to other people so as to gain their harmonious, willing cooperation in helping you to make life yield whatever you demand of it." ~ Napoleon Hill

We held our first elections in the fall of 2013, two years after we first received permission to begin constructing trails in Chewacla State Park.

As expected, Philip Darden was elected to serve as the new CAMP President. He had done what good leaders do. He had built many relationships during his time as the CAMP VP which allowed him to easily fill the officer positions as others also completed their terms. He also added a few new positions.

Philip was absolutely prepared to continue to lead and live up to the CAMP motto “We make things happen!”

We are very proud of what Philip and the other CAMP leadership team members accomplished as they continued to deliver outstanding results for the CAMP members, the state park, the community, and the visitors.

Ria and I are proud to have served with the CAMP team. It was the right time to do the right thing the right way for the right reasons. Together, we all made a contribution and a difference in our community. There's no doubt that many bikers (and hikers) have gotten healthier as they've traveled the many miles of trails that are available to them now.

"Unless someone is willing to make personal sacrifices for the good of others to earn their place in the hierarchy, they aren't really 'alpha material.'" ~ Simon Sinek

Ria and I invested several thousand hours during those first two years to grow the organization, build relationships, and get results while building and growing a team that would be capable of sustaining the organization long after we stepped aside. It was well worth our time. They're still going strong today!

Throughout all of 2012, I was consulting on Lean Manufacturing one week for pay followed by a week of building trails and relationships the next week for FREE.

I was much busier and much more worn out after a week of building CAMP and building trails. Most of the people involved with CAMP (then and now) had no idea I gave up 6 months of pay (over $100,000) in 2012 as I reduced my lean consulting schedule from every week to every other week, so I could dedicate myself fully to making sure CAMP was a success. I don't tell you this now to impress you but to inspire you to make the necessary sacrifices to accomplish your and/or your team's mission.

"The pursuit of character, elicits a genuine concern for the people around us. It requires that we serve them, regardless of what it costs us personally." ~ Andy Stanley

If you want to find out what kind of leader you are, lead a volunteer organization, especially one where the product is physical labor. We had a lot of fun and are excited to see CAMP continue to grow, get results, and do well as the years continue to pass.

Note: Some (not all) of the content above was taken from my first book, Defining Influence: Increasing Your Influence Increases Your Options.

I'm going to wrap up with a few random pictures from the many mountain biking adventures Ria and I have had over the years.