The Shadow Leaders Cast

When I think about adapting to our environment, I remember the moment I decided to hike Mount Elbert in Colorado. Since this was my first hike, I thought, “How hard can it be?” With that simple idea, I decided that light training would suffice. Six months later, I landed at Denver Airport, feeling excited and a bit nervous. The drive to our lodge was breathtaking; I got lost in thought as I tried to take in the beautiful mountains and vast landscapes. I suddenly snapped back to reality once we got to the lodge. After a big lunch, we got ready for our hike.

As we approached the mountain, the sight almost didn’t seem real. I quickly put on my hiking boots, hoping I hadn’t forgotten anything important. We started our hike full of energy, but after about five hours, breathing became harder. In fact, I started to feel nauseous. I quickly realized we weren’t prepared enough—I hadn’t trained properly for the hike, we didn’t take the time to get ourselves acclimated to the high altitude, and most importantly, we didn’t bring enough water.

After about 14 hours, we finally reached the summit of the mountain. The feeling was indescribable. Despite my struggles and exhaustion, the view made every difficult and painful step worth it. This moment taught me a powerful lesson about the importance of being prepared and understanding what we can handle, both on a mountain and in business.

This situation reminds me of how leaders need to better anticipate change. Just like I needed to understand the challenges of the mountain, leaders must know about the potential challenges they may face and how to adapt.

Just like we needed to prepare for climbing Mount Elbert, in business, we have to plan ahead and keep finding new ways to solve problems. It’s important to always remember what’s most important to our business and make sure everything we do matches up with that. This helps us face challenges, whether on a mountain or in business and teaches us how valuable it is to keep going and not give up.

Being prepared and understanding what we’re up against can really pay off dividends in the long run.

Learn how Miya addresses the shadow management casts in this video. If you’d like to learn more, we’re here to help you reach new heights at Leadership Worth Following.