Scaling Your Leadership Mountain: Finding the Right Guide for Lasting Impact

As leaders, we’re all on our own journeys up the mountain—literal or metaphorical. At its core, leadership is about the ascent, navigating challenges, and seizing opportunities that deepen our impact and expand our influence. But, as Michael Bungay Stanier suggests, it’s not about reaching the summit alone.

It's about recognizing the value of wise, curious, and encouraging guides who can illuminate the path forward and make each step more purposeful.

Drawing from Bungay Stanier’s insights, let’s explore how to choose these invaluable guides who help us design, drive, and deliver lasting impact—leaders who are as committed to our growth as we are to reaching the peak.

1. Choose a Guide Who Embraces "The Full Catastrophe"

In Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Full Catastrophe Living, he refers to the richness of life, encompassing every high and low, as “the full catastrophe.” Leadership is no different—it’s all-encompassing, full of complexity, and undeniably demanding. And in the spirit of this, your ideal guide is someone curious not only about your achievements but also about your challenges, failures, and potential.

A powerful guide will ask:

• Where are you now in your journey?
• What does success mean to you, internally and externally?
• What have you learned from past stumbles and wins?

Their curiosity isn’t superficial; it digs deep, helping you reflect on your path and recalibrate as needed. This mirrors Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead, which emphasizes vulnerability and transparency as the gateways to genuine connection and insight. These are the guides who encourage you to embrace the full catastrophe and see it as a canvas for learning, growth, and impact.

2. Seek Out "Smart Teaching" Guides

Guides who lead through smart teaching don’t always show you the whole roadmap upfront. They create space for learning through discovery. As Stanier describes, sometimes the best teachers are the ones who throw you into the exercise with minimal setup, encouraging you to figure it out, reflect, and then distill the lessons afterward.

Take a cue from Kim Scott’s Radical Candor, where the goal is not to provide all the answers but to encourage independent thinking and growth. A true leader knows that development is often found in the struggle. They’ll ask, “What was most useful or valuable for you?” or “What do you know now that you didn’t know before?” It’s these moments of smart, reflective teaching that lead to real transformation.

When you have a guide who knows how to time these moments—whether it’s through self-guided exploration or shared insight—they’re giving you the tools to not just learn but to internalize lessons that drive sustainable change.

3. Value the Guide Who Acknowledges the Moments

Great guides have a gift for acknowledging moments of struggle and triumph with equal respect. In The Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner remind us that recognition is a powerful motivator. The best leaders see their people, not only for their successes but for their persistence, their grit, and their willingness to keep going, no matter the circumstances.

Stanier’s sentiment, “You’re awesome and you’re doing great,” is a simple yet profound reminder that everyone needs encouragement. This aligns with High-Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard, which highlights the importance of positive reinforcement and the transformative power of acknowledgment. A strong guide will echo this, reassuring you that it’s okay to find it hard and it’s okay to celebrate the wins. They’ll be there to say, “This is tough, but you’re okay,” or “This is incredible, and you’re more than okay.”

Leaders who show us these moments and make space for acknowledgment build unshakeable influence in our lives. They help us see that each step, no matter how challenging, contributes to our journey’s purpose.

Finding the Right Guide and Being the Guide Others Need

Ultimately, the best guides are those who help us look inward, those who equip us to lead with both empathy and strength, and those who encourage us to embrace every moment of our journey. A mentor who helps you connect with your purpose, reminds you to care for your people, and holds you accountable without judgement, as Uncommon Accountability champions, is a guide worth following.

As you climb your mountain, remember that your journey doesn’t stop with finding a great guide. The best leaders become guides themselves. Model what you've learned, pass on insights, and encourage others to explore their potential. Leadership is not only about reaching the summit but about enabling others to start their own journey up the mountain.

To those who’ve become trusted guides in your life, thank them for helping you design, drive, and deliver lasting impact. And to those following in your footsteps, remind them of what MBS says: you’re awesome, and you’re doing great.

Reference: (A good guide vs a bad guide (how to tell) ? Michael Bungay Stanier (MBS))