What Is The Leadership Challenge?

It’s a class I took in grad school.

For my Masters in Organizational Leadership Program this “class” was a weekend retreat.

Since the teachers were seasoned campers, they went all out on this 3 day, 2 night camping experience.

As someone who prefers hotels over tents, this was my first experience roughing it in nature.

I remember sleeping on the ground in sleeping bags, hanging our food so it wouldn’t get eaten and using iodine drops for drinking water collected from a stream.

For the average outdoorsman this is normal, but for this city boy it was an “environment” shock.

But let’s get back to our regularly scheduled program: the leadership challenge.

I love practical applications since in my opinion management theory is dead.

For example, one of the activities we did was being paired in two’s to lead a hike.

• Every pair (I believe there were 6 in total) got a chance to exercise their leadership style over the group.

• There were various personalities and personal strengths involved so it took a lot of teamwork, communication and compromise to collaborate effectively.

My partner, Sarah, had more presence than me at the time plus a louder voice so I suggested she give the orders and I play more of a support role.

As she gave direction, I made sure to look out for individuals struggling physically during the journey.

One lady seemed gassed towards the back and my immediate instinct was to have her come to the front of the line to lead the pack rather than be the “caboose.”

At the time, some of the group members were confused by my decision, but I assured them I would explain my reasoning after our turn was over.

My classmates encouraged her while Sarah continued to lead the group from the front as I trailed from the back.

When our turn was up I explained that psychologically it’s hard to know you’re holding up the group which can be more mentally tolling than any physical pain.

The lady appreciated my thoughtfulness and my classmates now understood why the move was made.

After the assignment was over, everyone got a chance to vote for the best pair and to our surprise we won!

Our teachers said it was because we played off each other’s strengths well and looked out for the group’s welfare.

I don’t share this story to pat myself on the back, but to illustrate the power of experiencing leadership versus learning about it.

The reason why most leadership programs don’t work is because they rely solely on head knowledge.

But similar to the fear of public speaking, the only way to get over it is to actually do it (practice in front of an audience).

Your true challenge as a leader is to get better over time.

• That happens through action, feedback, direction, mistakes, accountability, etc.

• If you don’t apply and develop your leadership skills on a daily or weekly basis, you’re not improving.

• Before you start complaining about other leaders take a hard look in the mirror and ask what you can do better.

You can’t lead others if you don’t first take responsibility and lead yourself.

So as a leader, what is your leadership challenge?

My advice is this: don’t try and figure it out alone…you’re limited in your perspective (aka blind spots).

Instead, reply to this email and tell me what’s holding you back as a leader.

If I can help you or your company through a talk, workshop or coaching let me know.

God Bless,

Scott