Tag Archives: challenge

The Hardest Road

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The hardest road is the one that you are afraid to go down. This road is not your greatest weakness but it might be your biggest obstacle. You know that along the way it will be difficult and grueling. However, it will certainly create change and growth. On this road you might need the challenge and guidance of somebody who is more experienced and better equipped. This road doesn’t have the quick results but it is the one that will dramatically alter your life.

You know what your road is… it has already popped to mind.

More education? Discipline to work harder & smarter? A fear that needs conquered? A comfort zone you need to break out of? A strategic skill that you have avoided developing? The crucial conversations you haven’t had?  You might even have to quit something to start down the road. And in all reality, you are going to have to work your ass off.

Stay Home / fail

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Go nowhere. Dabble in no other realms, kingdoms or provinces. Seek the protection under the wing of your momma and the comfort of what you already know. Stay home! This is a sure fire way to stunt your growth as a leader. Sure, it’s rewarding (and possibly essential) to have a home base where you can rejuvenate, develop, connect with ‘easy friends’ and launch out from, but don’t stop there. Don’t get mired down in the usual stuff. Throw yourself out into new environments, adventures and situations. Take a trip. Volunteer on new projects. Seek out connections in cities beyond your current reach. Move to a next level challenge. Take some risks.

If Lebron James stays in Cleveland I will be far less interested in him as a leader. Sure, he may win championships there, but he will have passed up the opportunity to do it on the world’s largest stage. And in the process, he will have shied from the greater challenges and the larger exposure that made him great as a young guy when he skipped college and went right into the NBA.

* A short series of failures you can make as a young leader.

The Water Cooler Challenge

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When the water cooler gathering occur much of the talk has personal agendas, unproductive results, and leaves wide open doors for misunderstandings and hurt feelings.  Welcome back to Junior High, except this time having a big mouth could cost you a lot more, possibly your job.

Reason why you can’t shut up and what to do about it:

- You’re Offended: Talk only to the person that hurt you and move on, seriously no one else needs to be informed.

- You lack Confidence and struggle with Your Identity: You’ll never be a leader if this is the case.  Approach close friends/family, ask their thoughts, and be prepared for some hard answers. Personal reflection to follow.

- You have Control Issues:  This will come off desperate and have the opposite effect you wanted. Learn to not care about what others think of you as much.

- You lack Listening Skills: When people talk to much it can be because they don’t think the other person is hearing them, listen to their response to you.

- You’re Bored: You’re at work not a talk show; do your work.  It is disrespectful and inappropriate to waste company time on personal things.

- You’re Inarticulate: Thinking before you speak is key to sharing a thought, opinion, and/or feeling.  Take time and say it right the first time.

the path you take

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there are thousands of mountain bike riders out on the trails. i can say definitively that they all have one significant thing within their control that they can use to differentiate themselves from others.

it is the same thing that can differentiate one leader from another. it offers one leader opportunities to enter into exceptional places & positions of influence at a young age while it takes years for another potential leader to come even close to sniffing at such heights. I have no desire to oversimplify such a complex equation, there are certainly obvious exceptions, but you certainly can enhance your leadership through critical decisions about

the path you take

these directional choices do much to determine where you end up in leadership. if your ride the same entry level trails over and over again, you will only hone entry level skills. you need to try new trails, with unexpected challenges around the corners. you can’t shy away from new challenging climbs and the thrilling rides that follow. you have to branch out and beyond your current reality that you have already mastered.

each day when you get up and get after it, you have significant choices to make: will you go the same tired routes that you already know, or will you branch out and try something new? will you go around hard obstacles that lay straight in your path or will you forge through, over or among the technical challenge that is right in front of you?

as in bike riding, leaders don’t get better by repeating conquests.

look for a new challenge – sign up for a new assignment outside of your current skill set – develop a new network  - expose yourself to new conversations and environments