Last week was about Legos and seeing more than imperfections.  This week is about rock climbing and leading by example.

A few months ago, my family went to Hoosier Heights, an indoor rock-climbing place that has bouldering (free climb) and auto-belay systems where you can clip in and climb more vertically.  As we were driving over there, we thought the kids would be excited.  Turns out, the place got a little crowded, the kids got anxious, and were too afraid to climb.  It looked like a doomed adventure, until my wife nonchalantly went over to the auto belay area, clipped in, and started climbing.  The girls watched, saw how much fun she was having and that it was totally safe.  I climbed a couple of times too as the girls watched.  Finally, they decided they wanted to try.  They were still scared.  However, they had seen us do it, so they were brave enough to try.  At first, they got about 2 feet off the ground.  We celebrated and encouraged them.  They kept climbing and sometimes we climbed beside them.  Eventually they were getting about halfway up the wall (6 or so feet up).  They never made it to the top but going further than you ever have always beats not attempting.

What does this have to do with anything?  I’m convinced that the only reason the kids tried climbing is because my wife casually modeled bravery and what to do.  My wife didn’t make it a huge production.  She didn’t give some moving speech.  She just stepped in and demonstrated what to do.  I then followed her lead.  Eventually, the girls did too.

In many ways this makes me think of leadership.  As a leader, you’re often going to be in situations where people are a little bit nervous/anxious/confused.  They might be paralyzed.  The best thing for you to do is lean in and model what the behavior looks like.  Even if you don’t have official authority, your actions set the tone and trajectory for your team and your culture.  If you want a team that values people, model what that looks like.  If you want a team that values vulnerability, model what that looks like.  If you want a team that values transparency, model what that looks like.  If you want a team that values trying new things, model what that looks like.  People will follow your lead, so you need to ensure your behavior is worth emulating.

The challenge: What behaviors are you modeling?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry