“Keep your weight forward!”
“Lean into the fall line!”
As I shift my weight over the edge
and head for the first mogul
this sounds like the most ridiculous advice.
My brain screams PULL BACK!
So I do,
and I have plenty of time to regret my error
as I extract myself from the snowbank
and hike up the hill to retrieve my skis.
The moguls humiliated and humbled me for a decade.
Now I ski them with ease.
I was feeling proud and more than a little smug
Until I headed West…
Skiing in the East is about the ice.
Lean forward. Dig in your edges.
It’s counterintuitive. Awkward. Scary.
And the only way to control your speed.
Out West they have wide open bowls
powder up to your knees
It’s embarrassing.
I’m exhausted.
I can barely get through a run.
“Lean back” my instructor observes.
I nearly fall over from surprise.
“I’ve been taught to always lean forward,” I say.
“You’re an advanced skier now,” my instructor says.
At your level you use different techniques depending on the conditions.
He was talking about skiing,
And he gave me a new way to think about leadership.
You can’t push the powder around,
So you lean back and let the skis do the work.
Have you ever noticed that what
motivates a team on one project
may not motivate a team on another project
even if it’s the same team…
Do you recognize the crucial moment when
training a new employee?
You have been hovering. helping. teaching. protecting.
Then you have to step back. Let them fly solo.
A different technique on the same employee.
What are you doing
right now
That is holding you back
because you are applying an
old solution to a new challenge
Are you stepping forward when you should lean back?
Are you leaning back when you need to dive in and move things forward?
Great leaders use
different techniques for
different situations
Think up three new ways to solve your current challenge.
Implement one.