24 October 2022

Should the leading positions always be held by the best performers?

My friend Jose and I attended a leadership course at West Point Military Academy, but, during that trip, I would end up finding the most memorable lesson in an unexpected place.

West Point is on the west—🤓—bank of the Hudson River, close to Bear Mountain, a place of magnificent natural beauty, specially in autumn.

We arrived a day earlier, had some time to kill and Jose proposed to go trekking. The idea seemed irresistible given the beauty of the Hudson Highlands.

There was a problem, though : I had never really trekked in my life, at least not in routes that could be mildly demanding. Besides, Jose is a beast of a human being 🏋️‍♀️, practices every sport ever conceived by man and can probably bench press a car. What if I crumbled midway? What if I could not keep up with Jose’s pace?

Fearsome and worried, I accepted 😬. What else could I do? I kept my self-doubts to myself. "Perhaps the route is not that challenging. Maybe I'm in better shape than I think." But on our way to the trail, a thought grew prescient in my head: this is not going to end well… this is not going to end well… 😨.

We started off with a steep climb, to my despair 😩. I suffered. I suffered a lot 🥵. I didn’t want to show my ineptitude and did my best to keep up. At the end of the first stretch, my heart was a bomb poundering out of my chest. We had to stop so that I could catch some breath. No way of faking it anymore.

After recovering some breath, we kept going, now in less challenging terrain, Jose probably adjusted the pace. I cannot be sure because of the hyperventilation… my head floating in heaven, my thighs burning in hell.

As we moved on, entering more difficult terrain again, I would feel that deadly embrace: the fear of dissappointing Jose, the need to be up to his expectations and to not make a fool of myself. A tight corset across my chest.

In the midst of that physical and mental agony, Jose said:

“Hey! You lead now. Go first.”

WHAT?!?!? 😱 Is he out of his mind?!?! Me leading?! I’m bearly holding!!!

But I’m not one to question Jose’s authority on the field, so I did as I was told, overtaking him with trembling knees 🙇🏻‍♂️.

And through the looking-glass I went: same world, different place.

I took the first step, realizing it was now my decision where to set my foot. Can be here on the dust or on that rock; up the steep climb or through the most travelled path. And while I was making decisions, and becoming aware of my new responsibility, I grew out of my fears. I focused and performed—to my understanding—better than ever before.

And so we went, for the second half of our trek, me in a state of bliss that would have been unthinkable moments before. I felt empowered, and the empowerment unlocked capabilities that I didn’t thought I had.

Many times I’ve thought about this experience, not fully understanding what happened there.

If I was physically exhausted minutes before, where did that sudden surge of energy come from?

If I was fearful of dissapointing Jose as a follower, how come I overcame those fears as a leader? Shouldn’t I have been more concerned?

Is my being in front, forced to make a thousand little decisions, to be in a constant state of alertness, what broke the spell of self-consciousness?

Can fear and self-doubt have such a determinant impact on performance?

Was this sudden uplifting specific to me—some personality trait of mine—or would everyone experience the same?

What would have happened if I had confronted a challenge truly above my level? Would I have collapsed?

When I moved from following to leading, I truly went through the looking-glass. Same space, same circumstances, same activity… but different world, different interpretation, different me.

Leading transformed me; leading improved me. It changed the way I saw the world.

Should everyone have the chance to lead?

Is leading the most effective way to learn? To grow?

Isn’t this idea against the fundamental notion of meritocracy?

Can we know the true potential of someone if we don’t give them the chance to lead?

I went to West Point looking for insights on leadership; hard won lessons learned under the most extreme of conditions.
I did not expect to also find them in the most mundane of circumstances.
I want to thank Jose for it.

And while West Point delivered a good deal of answers, the forests in the Hudson Highlands left me with a good lot of questions.

Fine by me.

Isn’t that all we can strive for?

Better questions?