Just Like Riding A Bike (leadership lesson)
Leadership is just like riding a bike. It’s another leadership lesson that is all around us.
But, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
In fact, we probably use the phrase “just like riding a bike” too much. The reason is that we forget all the practice, bumps, bruises, support, balance, and focus it took for us to learn how to ride a bike. It wasn’t an easy process.
But, where it is “just like riding a bike” is that once we learn how to ride a bike at the most basic level, most humans stop learning. We get set in habits and rely on one way of riding the bike. Over time, we form habits that make it difficult to learn a new way of doing it and can often keep us in a rut of doing it the same way over and over again.
Our leadership journey is no different. We establish habits about how we communicate with people, how we handle (or ignore) conflict, how we collaborate (or isolate) teammates, and how we articulate a vision that is clear or blurry. We form habits that become our natural mode of operation. Again, there is always a leadership lesson all around us.
But, the best leaders, teams, and organizations continually challenge themselves to develop new ways of thinking, seeing, learning, growing, and leading their people. In order to break out of old habits and form new modes of operation, it takes disciplined and intentional guidance.
So, what do the best leaders and teams do to continue to grow?
- Assess — they make time to look at the bike they are riding to make sure it is the most efficient and effective tool for their journey. Sometimes we just need a bigger bike.
- Practice — they intentionally plan times to practice new ways of thinking and riding while they discover new paths they can take. They know that breaking out of old habits takes continuous practice and development.
- Use Training Wheels — they know we don’t learn to ride a bike in one day. They take the same approach with developing their people and culture by providing steps along the way to help challenge further growth and skill.
If you haven’t seen this funny video about the Backwards Bicycle and are looking for more support for this leadership lesson, I suggest you take a moment to watch. We’re all biased in some way and it takes practice to learn new ways of operating!
Travel Gracefully,
Jason
Jason Barger is the globally celebrated author of Step Back from the Baggage Claim and ReMember, as well as a coveted keynote speaker and leadership consultant. More importantly, he’s striving to be an above average father, husband, and friend.
Follow on Twitter @JasonVBarger and learn more at JasonVBarger.com
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