What the mountains told me about leadership

My boys and I went hiking in the mountains a few weekends back. Reflecting on the camp and our walk through the mountains, I had some deep thoughts around leadership. I used to hike a lot in my youth, but haven’t done so for a number of years. But I was determined to let my boys experience nature and the beauty that South Africa possesses. We set up camp on Friday night and started our hike on Saturday morning. I naturally took the lead. My boys are eleven and nine so I was the most ‘’senior’’ person with the most ‘’experience’’. Our trip started off well and we were going strong. The walk, however, became tougher as we progressed. It was during the stressful parts of the trip that some leadership lessons were leant. I want to share some ''philosophical'' thoughts as per our walk in the mountains:

1. People often take the lead because they have the most experience. But this doesn’t mean they know everything. Often in organizations, senior people take the lead based on their experience and seniority. I was thinking to myself when starting the hike: “These boys are trusting me wholeheartedly. If only they knew I was a bit stressed and not so confident in leading the way’’. I had a map for the route, but reality is often different from the map. We had to go down ravines, over rocks and rivers, through spiderwebs, dodging branches and sliding on wet rocks. They trusted me and I had to lead the way. Leaders often navigate paths they are not familiar with. They should have a goal and a map, but don’t always know the details until they are on route. You have a few ways of getting to your destination but paths may change due to growth in the underbrush, the water level of the river, paths having faded etc. We have to have more empathy for leaders especially when the path to be travelled is new. Leaders may not be 100% sure of what to do and that’s okay. I led the expedition (no one else could). I was not always sure of the direction, always having to look out for snakes, keeping an eye on the path and worrying about my two sons. A leader has lots of things on their mind. It’s a lonely path and people who haven’t lead the way, don’t understand those challenges. People think leadership is fearless, but I don’t think so. Courageous is a better word.
2. People will complain along the way making your task as a leader more difficult – My youngest son found the walk too long. At one stage, we had to cross over a plateau through the grass, rocks and in the hot sun. He lagged behind and sat down moaning, lay flat on the ground and grabbed his throat to display his physical ‘’affliction’’ because of a dry throat. In his defense, he is only nine. The walk must have felt like twice the distance to him because of this shorter legs. We will have people on the trip who will complain along the way. They will outwardly display their frustrations for everyone to hear. As leaders, we will encounter difficult stakeholders and we need to accept and embrace this. Not everyone will be happy with the progress made or have the required stamina for the walk. This could distract us as leaders and make the walk unpleasant.
3. Leaders must have perseverance – my oldest son, while on our crusade, said to me: ‘’just keep walking’’. Brave young man. He’s attitude was totally different to that of his younger brother’s (who threw a tantrum). This reminded me of the way we need to look at challenges as leaders. We need to have perseverance especially when we are a bit lost and in a tight spot. We were a bit lost at some stage because we did not follow the map. I was getting a bit panicked because I didn’t want to get lost in the mountains with my two young boys. We were walking and walking and they could sense my uncertainty. People will sense a lack of confidence from leaders. I feel we should rather be honest and straight forward with people about being a bit lost. This should be balanced by confidence and with the motto of ''just keep moving''. People will want to quit, but leaders carry on. Leaders have no choice. Leaders should not give up and throw tantrums.
4. Leaders show character by how they react to difficult situations. One of my favourite sayings is: ‘’Life is about 10% of what happens to you, and about 90% of how you react to it’’. Those two boys were watching me closely. When they have to take the lead someday, they will mimic me i.e. how I fared as a leader of the hike. Did I panic and shout and become grumpy or was I cool, calm and collected? They learn from us and so do employees when they look at leaders.
5. Things may not always work out the way you planned - When we got to our destination, the rock sliding pools, but the pools were totally dried up. The end of the trip was not what we had expected. That’s life. We may not always like the outcome. But to me, this tests the character of the leader. This outcome really upset my younger son. He was even more distraught and actually ran away from us and upped his tantrum. Leaders will be criticised and feel disappointed. This is okay. We need to carry on.

We did get safely back to camp. Despite the obstacles and complaining, we made it. Instead of swimming in the rock pools, we swam in camp’s swimming pool. During the trip I was a bit worried, had to endure fretful companions and picked up a few scratches. But we did it. Life is like a hike through the mountains. Leaders endure abuse and uncertainty but the good ones carry on and make it through.

The kids quickly forgot the troubles we had on the trip. I suggest we do the same as leaders.

PS – the test of true leadership is taking your young kids on a hiking journey.