Riding a bike. Most of us have done it. When we did, we quickly discovered the difference between riding uphill and downhill.

Recently, my mother-in-law moved in to a retirement center not far from our home. It happens to be 4 miles that is 100% downhill from home. When riding the bike there and pushed a little bit, it can be done in 15-20 minutes. It’s a blast riding there. Couldn’t have more fun.

But…then we must ride back home. Twenty minutes is out of the question. Thirty minutes is out of the question (at least for my skill level). The heart attack seems as if it’s just around the corner. The legs burn. There is not near enough oxygen in the air. And the thought comes, “Was the ride down really worth it?”

My brothers loved to tell stories of mom driving them up to Estes Park, and then they’d ride their bikes down to Loveland. They would pass cars much of the way down, especially around the Dead Man’s Curve area. That was when Highway 34 was still pretty much on the river bed.

In your business, which direction are you going? There are only 3 choices.

The first is pedaling on level ground. This isn’t a bad place to be. Your organization is moving forward, but there is also resistance from wind, which means that although you are progressing, things are necessarily running as smoothly as you’d like. This “wind” represents those employees that are doing their job, but not really helping you move forward, they are just keeping you upright. Sometimes that “wind” becomes stronger; they are complaining about needed changes or their workload, etc. This bogs you down, but it doesn’t stop you.

The second is pedaling uphill. This is the worst. No matter what you do, it seems as if you can’t make any progress. What’s even worse, sometimes the “wind” is blowing downhill, so you’re not only fighting to make some progress, you have additional resistance to deal with. Pedaling uphill is when your team is not in alignment with what you really need to accomplish to move the organization forward. In fact, they are often actively working against you. This isn’t necessarily because they are “bad” people, but it is more likely because they simply do not understand nor buy into the vision, mission and values of your organization. Surprisingly, more often than not, that is your fault, not theirs!

It’s your fault because you haven’t made it clear to people what your organization is all about. You assume they know because they came to work for you. But you haven’t instilled in them a passion for what you do and who you help or why you do what you do. It’s “just a job” for them even if, to you, it is something you’re very passionate about.

Pedaling uphill is exhausting and if you find yourself on that bike and don’t change what you’re doing, you will never reach the top of the hill. Sometimes you’ll think you’re there, but then realize that was just a small crest and there is much more hill to go.

Finally, the third option is pedaling downhill. You have 2 options here; you can coast and just enjoy the ride, or you can put your bike into high gear and really pick up speed.

Coasting is not bad to do…for a little while. It gives you and your team a respite after working hard to get here. Everyone can take a breather and celebrate how far you’ve come. But, if you continue to just coast, you will lose momentum eventually and when those next difficult little hills come, you’ll have to peddle really hard to get over them. That’s not bad, but it’s not the best either.

Putting yourself into high gear and pedaling hard on the way down is really not that difficult and you gain a lot of momentum for the little hills that inevitably come up. You will carry through them as if they are simply speed bumps. You are here when everyone on your team is excited to come to work each day and they know exactly what needs to be done to move your organization forward. Everyone has bought in to what you’re doing and for whom.

OK, riding a bike is not a perfect analogy to the business world and many of you have come up with problems that don’t work in the analogy, but hopefully, this sparks some thought on your part.

The bottom line is this; you cannot expect the people on your team to simply “understand” all that is required of them nor can you expect them to “buy in” to what you’ve bought in to unless you’ve done a fantastic job of inculcating (sometimes fancy words are fun) in them those reasons.

You cannot hold someone accountable for something that you did not tell them they were being held accountable for!

You cannot expect someone to buy in to your passion unless you’ve given them good reasons to be passionate about it!

Leadership is about YOU communicating what’s important. It is not about THEM understanding it by osmosis. When you think you’ve communicated it enough, do it 10 more times, except with passion and with reasons why they would want to be passionate about it too.

In June, our topics address two very important themes for leaders. First is How to Improve Workplace Performance and the second is Increasing Accountability and Responsibility. Aren’t these subjects extremely important to us as individuals as well as to our organization? Register here by June 12. 

If improving your leadership team’s skill set is important to you, let’s talk for 30 minutes to help you figure out what to do about it. To schedule a time to talk, call 720-515-8081 or email john.reeb@crestcom.com.