Introducing waypoint Leadership Lab
Several years ago, my wife Jessica and I were on a two day, 12 mile backpacking trip on Devil’s Peak in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness near Mt. Hood. The first day was a difficult hike on a hot day, gaining over 3000 feet of elevation. We were exhausted by the time we got to our camp site, a small lake covered in algae. It was a rather disappointing destination after a hard day’s hike. Fortunately, the second day back down the mountain was mostly down hill, so when we set out that morning, we found ourselves in good spirits.
After a couple of hours, we found ourselves at literal fork in the road (a phrase that has taken on new and unpleasant meaning of late). According to our guidebook, both trails that lay ahead would get us to our final destination. The trail to the right led safely through a forested area, while the trail to the left led to a narrow, rocky trail on an exposed cliffside with a 1000 foot drop, which our guidebook strongly suggested avoiding. As someone who has a strong dislike for heights, avoiding that cliff sounded just fine to me. The problem was, what our guidebook was telling us and what our map was showing didn’t match up. The map said that going left was the safe route, while going right would put us on the cliff. After debating our options for a few minutes, we decided to follow the map, even though it seemed counterintuitive.
It wasn’t until ten minutes later when we found ourselves crawling single file on our hands and knees, rounding a bend on a terrifying, cliffside trail with a sheer drop directly to our left that I realized my mistake.
I had been holding the map upside down.
Sometimes we don’t know which path to take…
So why focus on leadership? I believe that leadership development is the key that unlocks both personal growth and organizational improvement. I take an expansive view on the concept of leadership, and how it applies across the domains of our lives and lifespans. My views on leadership are influenced by my professional experiences as leader in early childhood and K-12 spaces, as well as by a variety of thought leaders, writers, and trainers that I have had a chance to learn from over the years. I believe that when we lead with courage and kindness, focus on what is within our control, and prioritize service to others we can achieve great things for ourselves, our teams and our organizations (REVISE to something like ‘I look forward to bringing this bear thru WLL by’ … or something like that).
Something about the Lab concept…
