The other week I did something dangerous and scary.

The other week I did something dangerous and scary.?

I walked with my friend and fellow coach Monica Baeza PCC ORSCC CPCC in the French alps. It was her first time walking there, I have been there several times on skiing and walking holidays.?

The walk didn’t quite go to plan, in fact, we took a wrong turn almost immediately, but decided to keep going and somehow find a way to our destination: a cabin lift at nearly 2000 meters which would close at 17:00.?

We had already completed a walk in the morning and enjoyed a big lunch?before embarking on this more challenging walk, which in theory would take us just under 2 hours. But we took that wrong turn.?

We walked on and contemplated out loud what had made us take the wrong path. We realised we are both very action driven and want to get on with things. Next time, we vowed we would take more time at the start. Learning number 1.?

After walking for about half an hour we found a way to get closer to the original route. After walking some more, we saw three teenage boys cross our path towards a path that was signposted to the valley where our hotel was. We walked after them. In the back of my mind there was a little voice, which was amplified, when I saw that one of the young guys slid down a steep muddy path. I thought that there would be no way that we could skid all that way down for nearly 700 meters on paths like that. I realised we had a problem.?

Going down that path was out of the question, but we had not seen any signs pointing to the cabin lift. All we knew was that we were walking in the right direction, just not the right altitude. I had a slight moment of panic as I realised that if we didn’t find the right path, we wouldn’t make it to the lift in time. I felt responsible for taking Monica on this walk, wanted it to be a good experience and now we were in possible peril.?

Monica told me to breathe.?

I took a breath and we walked back to where we had seen the young guys emerge earlier. Higher up we could now see a sign post. In the distance we could hear voices. We decided two things, 1 we would find out what was on the signpost, 2 we would stop the hikers. Both were the right decision.?

We reflected that although we made a mistake earlier, we were not too proud to change tactics and ask for help. Learning number 2.?

The sign showed that it led to the lift we needed, the hikers confirmed this and were on their way there also. We announced we would join them. Safety in numbers.?

I felt I could relax a little. It started to rain. We marched on as the sign had said it was one hour walk, and we had 1:20 left to make it to the lift in time. The pace was high. We reached snow.?It got colder and low clouds started to obscure the view towards the lift. I saw a side of Monica I had heard about, but not witnessed first hand.?Even though she is not an experienced mountain hiker, she got stuck in and kept going. No complaints, just being in the moment and single-mindedly motored on.?I felt gratitude and pride that she was pulling through.?

As it got closer to the time to reach our destination, there was a distinct rush in the air of the last hikers also trying to make it in time.?With 20 minutes to spare we reached the lift. A rush of relief, joy and celebration washed over us.?

We boarded the small cabin which took us through the clouds into the valley where we could celebrate our adventure.?

Learning number 3. Next time one walk is probably enough. Learning 4. Let someone know where you are going. ?

The biggest learning came from drawing the parallels between our walk to how we would show up if we coached a team together and what to look out for.?

• We know we like to go into action mode and because we both have this trait we amplify it. So we now know to take our time before we move.?
• We know we can rely on each other and are supportive.?
• We know we can admit mistakes to each other.?
• We are creative in finding solutions.?
• We know we can celebrate success.

Pretty good grounding for a working partnership.?

If you also like the taste of success for your team, then let one of us know and we can take you on an exciting journey. We now know the way :-)