Skiing and Leadership

I love to ski.

Now, that is not quite the same as saying that I am good at it - just that I love it and was Saturday ever a great ski day! Lots of sunshine; blue sky; great snow and fresh air.

So why then, as I am sitting on the chairlift with one of my three daughters, am I thinking about work?

Well, for whatever reason, it occurred to me as I was looking down on the skiers below that while everyone more or less gets up the hill in a well organized fashion, it is when they are coming down that things "fall apart". As they get off the chair, the previously well organized masses quickly splinter into groups of differing style, capability and proficiency. Some head straight down; some zig and zag; some head for the Snow Park others for the moguls. Some race; many fall and occasionally some don't make it at all.

Perhaps, in business, too much time is spent organizing people to get "up the hill" in an orderly and efficient manner and not enough time in helping them get down to the bottom. It seems to me that organization after organization spends so much time and effort drafting their Strategic Plan and Vision (the chair lift to the summit) and then sits back and wonders why people just don't seem to be able to ski down to the bottom the way they should.

Well, it doesn't work that way. Improving the "lift" will not help people get down the hill better only get them to the top quicker. Try putting more effort into grooming the slopes and improving the ability of your ski team. Then, remember the most important thing of all, people will still want to come down their own way, at their own speed and within their own comfort zone. Some will ski, some will blade some will board. Can you live with that kind of diversity?