“Snowboarding is an activity that is very popular with people
who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough.”

~ Dave Berry

As I age, one of my personal goals is to keep myself fit so I can continue to ski. I exercise all year with a special focus on building up my leg strength and flexibility so that I can make the trek out west to the Rocky Mountains. I didn’t discover the joy of skiing a big mountain, fresh powder, wide trails and high altitude until late in life.

I had the great fortune of being a speaker in Utah during the Winter Olympics hosted by Park City. It was just months after the 9/11 attacks on our nation and being the host country for an event that would draw people from around the world and world attention was hopeful, healing, and scary. Security was tight. I sat in the stadium for the closing ceremony under a winter ski that was void of air traffic because it was designated as a ‘no-fly’ zone for the event. It was surreal, thousands sitting together, participating in the closing, cheering all the athletes, and feeling the kinship of community while wondering if we would be a target of terrorism. I will never forget that experience. Or the fun I had on Main Street in Park City trading pins and talking to every person I met. I rediscovered humanity and our common connections — and that the world is a very small place filled with well-intended people. I also discovered the joy of Rocky Mountain skiing. Both have been valuable life lessons that I carried forward in my life and work.

I am back in the Rockies to ski Breckenridge and Vail while visiting a beloved Aunt and cousins. I have been transported to a new world where there is lots to learn. A foot of fresh powder snow fell on our first day making for good skiing and challenging driving.

Each time I plan this ski trip — and every day of the trip — I discuss my desire to learn a new skill: snowboarding. I have been doing this for the last ten years. Each time I ride up on a chair lift with a person of my age who has a snow board attached to their feet I query them about when they learned, why they switched from skis, how hard it was to learn and would they switch back? They happily answer my enthusiastic questions with…..they learned late in life, they wanted to stretch themselves, it was hard to learn and be prepared to fall down a lot in the beginning and yes, it is harder to master snowboarding. Still, I am curious and attracted to stretch of new skill building.

This year is no exception. While organizing my ski rental I asked the technician about snowboarding. He is in his forties and both skis and snowboards. He reinforced everything I had heard before but added a new twist. Ross, the manager of the rental shop, said that learning to ski was easy because it had technical components (snowplow, parallel, body placement, etc.) while snowboarding was a ‘feeling’ one that everyone could not grasp. I have a hunch it has something to do with letting go and collaborating with gravity and the hillside. As he said, ‘feeling’ he touched his heart.

His comments stayed with me all day and were fresh in my mind this morning. I know I want to spend a week learning and ‘feeling’ my way into a new skill that will keep me fresh and require different muscles. This ability to learn is something I have come to understand as essential to growth and leadership. One’s ability to learn is the gateway to one’s life. Discovery is my superpower and my friend.

As I lay in bed and pondered the ‘feeling’ aspect of learning a new skill, the analogy that popped into my head was one of leadership, my passion. Technical skills and competency are the foundation of being effective, successful, and contributing in life and work. However, it is the ‘soft skills’— the interpersonal, the values and beliefs, the philosophies, and feelings — that make for leadership regardless of title and position. These are the differentiators.

Though leadership competencies may be giftedto some and not to others, leadership can be learned. However, the feeling of sharing power, of servant leadership, of letting go of your own needs to support the success of another person doesn’t always click for everyone; and thus leadership can be elusive for some.

Leadership is something that is first felt. It begins as a feeling of trust in others, a generosity of spirit in investing in other people, a call to action when a void of leadership exists, the desire to make things better for more than yourself, and collaboration with all your resources to do things larger than yourself. The contributions of a leader are both developed technical skillfulness and a feeling of confidence in yourself and in others. It is the desire to work through any situation, regardless of the challenge, to bring the best of yourself and of others to the endeavor.

I am grateful to have this leadership instinct. I try to use it responsibly in all that I do. I am also grateful to have a career of supporting the development of leadership and standing beside leaders of all types who live to support healthy organizations, working environments, working relationships, and impactful outcomes for our communities and world.

Leadership is not easy. It can be lonely. It requires constant use of technical skill and faithful feeling in the trusting people, process and one’s self. You fall down a lot. But leaders always get up and continue. The view can be spectacular. And the ride? Well, when you feel the flow of people coming together to work under their own motivation in support of a unifying mission, that is like gliding down a big slope, under a sunny blue ski in the mountains of fresh powder and your legs are working well.

I am going to bring my understanding of leadership to my skiing today and my experience of skiing to my leadership going forward.

Last year, Paul Voinovich, a successful business owner, great leader of people and an avid skier, said something to me that I carry with me and repeat often, ‘Don’t get too far out over your ski tips.’

I — who leap then look in life — may jump into something before fully considering the consequences. This has both supported my entrepreneurism well and has gotten me into trouble. His comment sticks with me and helps me slow down, ease back, let gravity help, and avoid many tumbles.

I have a hunch that I will be learning a lot more this week, too.

What from your life gives you inspirations for your leadership?

From what experiences can you find parallel lessons to apply?

What fun experiences can you create for yourself and others to deepen their development?

Besides the lessons ahead of me, there is also a week of rest and renewal. It has taken me too long to realize how important that time to clear one’s head’ and renew one’s physical and emotional spirit is very important to a life well lived.

I am off to discover a world in the mountains. How will you enrich your life and leadership today?

Leslie

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” 

– John F. Kennedy