Matthew Cavanaugh is a friend of mine. I met him first through his wife, Laura Knowles Cavanaugh.
Matthew enjoys doing many things I do, only in different places. He walks up the sides of mountains, while I usually walk on sidewalks. He goes out into nature to reflect on leadership and depth in nature, while I tend to wander around town.
We decided to trade guest posts about climbing the mountain of leadership.
Thank you, Matthew.
A few years ago, I climbed one of the notoriously hardest mountains in SoCal – Iron Mountain. “Old Iron” – as some purists call it – is a death march with over 7,000′ feet of elevation gain in under 7 miles. There is no water on this trail and the trail is not even, but, instead, alternates between kind-of-uphill and need-to-crawl-to-get-up-the-hill. It’s hard.
I met up with my group at the trailhead early in the morning and we – all of varying degrees of hiking experience – set out to gain the crown jewel of the San Gabriel Mountains. The first few miles were fun, as we joked, talked, and enjoyed the relatively modest beginning to the trail. However, 2 hours into our climb, we began to encounter the nastiness of the trail. At one point in time I can remember wondering if it was a good idea to hike this mountain without ropes. My body began to fight back, our group stopped joking as much as we had been, and the silence of the surrounding monoliths filled our minds. But we kept going.
I am what you might call a long strider. I am 6’4 and have very long legs. However, 2 miles below the summit, I felt my quads crying out for relief. No electrolytes, calories, or short rest seemed to help. Instead, I changed up my stride so that I was effectively relying on my calves and trekking poles (using my back muscles) much more than my tired quads. I alternated between this and my normal stride and kept my eye on the prize. I relied on my teammates for encouragement and support and I gave the same thing back. On top of that, we had reached a place in our journey where turning back would just be disappointment – we were all in.
Leadership is the same way. It can help to divide up a long journey or task into smaller ones but ultimately growing into a strong leader is a marathon more than a sprint. We need to rely on our teammates and help those around us. We need to vary our techniques; the terrain changes as we grow. We need to think well on the fly. Most importantly of all – I’d argue – we need to possess the audacity and determination to make it to the top of the mountain of what we set out to do.
We made it to the top and I can guarantee you that the incredible summit view was worth the hell we endured. We were tired, dehydrated, and cold – but the whole hike down the mountain, we talked about the next larger mountain we could summit. Our collective bar was raised – and we still talk about this hike 2 years later.
What’s your Iron Mountain going to be?
What tools will you bring?
Who will come with you?
You can read more of Matthew’s reflections on leadership, and climbing the mountain, at his website, BeyondthePinnacle.com, or follow him on Twitter at @BeyondPinnacle.
[Image by Lachlan Hardy]
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