“Your bike goes where your nose goes.”
That’s what they say in mountain biking—and one of my clients just proved it applies to leadership too.
He’s navigating a big transition: new role, new visibility, new expectations. The pressure’s high, and the margin for error feels low. So he’s treating it like mountain biking.
- Keep your eyes on where you want to go. Look at the drop-off, you’ll ride off the drop-off. Get distracted by shiny objects at work, you lose momentum on strategic priorities.
- Stay loose. Stiffen up on the bike and every rock hurts. Stay rigid as a leader and you can’t adapt when things change fast.
- Focus on what matters. You’re hyper-alert to your surroundings while laser-focused on the big obstacles ahead.
These principles work beautifully, especially when life throws you a curveball. Or a horse.
A neighbor of mine was biking a familiar trail when a horse galloped across his path. Expert cyclist that he is, he saw it coming (focus on what matters), responded quickly (stay loose), and smoothly braked to safety (eyes on where he wanted to go).
The real test isn’t your technique on the smooth sections. It’s how you respond when the horse shows up.
I learned this when I was just a few months into leading HR and got my own “horse on the trail”—the call that we were being acquired. Everything I’d been building toward suddenly shifted to due diligence mode. I’d never done M&A work before, and confidentiality meant I couldn’t pull in most of my team for help.
The mountain biking mindset became my lifeline. Keep my eyes on the new destination (successful acquisition), stay loose enough to learn fast, and focus on what truly mattered in that moment—not the hundred other HR initiatives I’d planned.
These 3 principles put together allow for a fluid ride, both on the trail and on a team.
Because you never know what might get thrown at you. You can do everything right—communicate clearly, plan for the known risks, make all the right moves…
…and then a horse gallops across the trail.
The real test is how you respond when the horse shows up. Do you freeze? Panic, and hit the brakes? Force the path? Or do you stay centered, adjust your posture, and keep riding?
The horse isn’t the threat.
The horse will always show up. For leaders and teams, it’s not about avoiding disruption—it’s about how quickly you can recalibrate.
That’s the ride you’re training for.
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(Old picture of me on the bike. After a concussion in 2021–not from MTB–I gave up the activity as I felt it increased risk of another head injury. I’m happier on my two feet. But the MTB lessons remain.)
Hey there! I’m a leadership team whisperer, executive coach, and speaker. I guide leadership teams in high-growth companies to achieve rapid growth in a healthy, sustainable way. I coach senior leaders to discover the path to lead with ease.
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