Crest the Hill

“Don’t stop peddling! Don’t stop! Don’t stop…pedal…pedal…CREST THE HILL!”

Ugh. Flop. Crash.

I have been teaching my 10 and 8 year old how to ride up hills on their bikes. They love to come out on the beautiful Trans-Canada trails cycling with me, and I love the experience of being able to teach them safety, etiquette and technique.

The hills create dread in them both. As they become more and more familiar with where we are on the trail, they realize that a particular hill will be looming large, and they begin to adjust their cycling style to reflect its imminence. Usually this is where mistakes are made.

They are not scared of getting hurt, although I am sure that was part of the concern in the beginning, what they are most concerned about is the repeated failure. I recognized their concerns and embarked on a campaign to help them to understand how to master any hill – even if it is a mountain.

“Hills,” I told them, “Can always be mastered; never beaten, but always mastered.”

“Huh?”

“You have to remember that the hill will always be there, and you can come back to it time and time again. If you think you have beaten the hill you will get lazy and make a mistake.

“The hill doesn’t know you exist, it is just there. It is a tool, like a hammer or a saw or a drill – a tool. It is your skill and your knowledge that allows you to ride up the hill and to ride over the top.

“The hill doesn’t want to see you fail. The hill isn’t laughing at you. The hill can’t suck your strength from you; it is your skill, knowledge and experience that make the difference. It’s all you.”

There is a mechanics to getting up the hill, and I had to figure out for myself how to explain it. For me, like in most things in my life it was trail and error, but I sought advice and researched to determine the best way to make it happen.

I explained to my kids that to get up the hill you can undertake different approaches. First, you can gain speed, get your legs pumping and ready to go, pedal like a maniac hoping your momentum will make it to the top before gravity teaches you a lesson.

A second way would be to drop your bike into a lower gear, put your weight forward on the bike and chug your way up the hill. I tell them it isn’t pretty, and the more accomplished bikers will blow past you, but they will always admire your determination and cheer you on (etiquette). It is only when you don’t try and walk your bike up the hill that they will just blow past you.

The most important lesson I was able to impart about making it up any hill, was the need to never stop pedaling until you crest the hill. Invariably people will attack a hill and when their line of vision becomes level with the crest…they slow down thinking they have made it. The problem is, their eyes are where they need to be, but their bodies are still chugging up – and gravity is pushing down.

You must crest the hill, be on top of the hill, and only when gravity takes away your need to pedal can you relax and take a breather before moving forward. Don’t stop pedaling until you crest the hill. Simple.

An easy way to focus on cresting the hill is to plan it at the bottom, and manage your energy until gravity is once again your friend. Vision is important, but vision isn’t action; so do not stop pedaling until you crest the hill.

The first time one of my children crest the hill with the help of my advice, he excitedly turned to tell me he mastered the hill…then fell off his bike because he lost focus. But that is a lesson for another time.

In Over Your Head?

Ever feel in over your head? Everyone has felt it at one time or another, the feeling that you aren’t qualified, you’re not good enough, you shouldn’t be here, that there is someone better suited to what you are doing. All leaders feel this way at one time or another, but most often the feeling will arise at the start of a new leadership position. It is how the fledgling leader reacts to feeling in over your head that dictates how successful they will be in the future.

A leader in a new environment can be progressive and positive, viewing the learning curve as an exciting time of growth and personal development, but just as easily (and probably more easily) the leader can become dictatorial, seeing the learning curve as a period of weakness and a time to force control.

The lack of familiarity with a situation creates insecurity, and insecurity can undermine a person’s sense of themselves. It affects the perspective of the circumstances they are in, as well as their value to the organization and the people they are leading.

When I was 27, I ran for Mayor of my hometown. I quit my job and ran full time, eventually winning and causing quite a stir in the community because of my age. The night of the election I was riding high from the thrill of the win, but after the incumbent Mayor conceded, there was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. There was too much excitement to worry about it, but later that evening the feeling got stronger until it washed over me like an ocean wave.

Now what? NOW WHAT? I was a deer in the headlights.

I had just won the election, but I hadn’t really planned on what to do after I won. Sure, I had daydreams about being mayor, and I had the plan that my team and I had worked on for the two years prior, but I had no experience, no knowledge, and no frame of reference for how to start being mayor. It doesn’t mean that I wasn’t serious about winning, but my energy was focused on the win.

This was my fight or flight moment, I could have collapsed and withdrawn into my shell, or I could just keep going -- I chose the latter. I paused...planned, and then followed 7 simple rules; rules that allowed me the time to learn without assuming the role of a student, and to establish the mantle of leadership without forcing control.

When in over your head I recommend the following:

1. Take the time to listen and learn; this is fun and exciting.
2. Assess your resources; develop the plan for effective implementation.
3. Establish clear rules; but not so restrictive as to limit your ability to succeed.
4. Don’t promise what you won’t deliver; do it too many times and you lose your standing.
5. Stay focused on your goal; don’t get lost in the minutia of learning.
6. Allow people to follow; understand that loyalty is earned not forced.
7. Give yourself a break; you don’t have to be perfect, you do have to be human.