Leadership Lessons from a Climbing Adventure – Part 5 in a Series

I went rock climbing recently. It was a ball! I used to make time for it consistently and hope to make it more of a priority again. It’s always fun to revisit an activity like that after years. You find that you have a whole new perspective. I am at a very different place in my life than I was when I last strapped those shoes on and tightened that harness.

I guess that I must still feel pretty at ease way up the wall because my mind was on more than where I would put my foot or hand next. I couldn’t help but think about how many analogies there are to make between climbing and leadership.

The fifth and final lesson from my climbing adventure is this: one weak link can stop you from reaching your full potential. Is your machine ready to do its’ best work? This can be any part of your business; your team, your processes, your equipment, your communication? Where do you have weaknesses that slow down your ability to progress or provide your products or services? If one area is strong but another weak it WILL slow you down or stop you dead in your tracks. You can use band aids for only so long. What area of your business are you neglecting or turning a blind eye to? What staff issues, equipment malfunctions, slow processes do you need to address NOW to really catapult your profits?

In climbing my machine is my body and mind. I had to do an evaluation of my mindset to make sure that fear wouldn’t get in my way and my body and it’s readiness to carry me efficiently up that wall. Mindset……Great! Legs…..good. Flexibility, still got it. Upper body strength…….. Check. Fingers and forearms….ooops!! I no longer have the stamina I once had. If I’m going to be as effective as possible I will need to put some focus there. To be honest, I didn’t make it to the top that day. Almost. But, not quite. It wasn’t fear. My mindset was good. It wasn’t the strength of my legs or trust issues with my belayer. I would cruise along grabbing, stepping, lifting. My creativity was still there but…… No….. I had a weak link. My fingers just couldn’t keep up. The muscles in my fingers and forearms would get fatigued. So, while the rest of me was in good working order for the task at hand, that one weak link stopped me from getting to where I really wanted to be. Do I beat myself up? No! I just need to make a commitment to build strength where it is lacking. I’m sure I have some hand grips around here somewhere and will get them back out. It’s another new focus.

Where are the weak links in your business? What is stopping you from reaching your full potential? What commitments will you make to change, improve, re-formulate, staff up so that you can get where you need to be? You have important work to do in this world. Make sure that the machines of your work, you and your business, are in the best working order possible!