Many years ago, I climbed a mountain with a group of friends. This was an ambitious day trip. In the Alaska summer, ‘day’ is a flexible length of time.

Since the mountain was back-country we started very early. With nearly 7,000 ft of elevation gain from the trailhead to the summit, the approach was long. We began on mountain bikes and then transitioned to foot. Frankly, I was tired and my legs were cramping before we even began climbing.

The climb wasn’t too technical. But the terrain was challenging with lots of loose rock and snow. While it was summer down below, toward the top of the mountain it was still winter. As we neared the summit, the clouds rolled in thick. It was hard to see.

We finally summited. After a short break, we began our descent. Our route up seemed too dangerous to descend. So, we looked for a different, safer route. Eventually, we found a chute full of scree and snow and began to glissade down. The cloud cover was still very thick. We only had a few yards of visibility.

A glissade is a controlled slide. It can be a very fast way to descend. We were anxious to get beneath the clouds and were moving quickly. Suddenly, the lead climber fell back into a self-arrest and began shouting at us. The rest of us followed suit. After we stopped, we realized that what had appeared to be exceptionally ‘poor visibility’ was just…nothing. We had nearly slid straight off a cliff.

We were forced to climb back up and search for a new route down. Again, but more cautiously, we descended. Eventually, we dropped beneath the clouds. The valley was lush and green. The air felt warm. Even though clouds were above us, the evening sun was shining low and up the valley. It was beautiful.

We continued our descent, each of us looking for the trail and the best way to connect to it. Slowly, realization struck. We were in the wrong valley. There was no trail. Again, we had to climb back up, find the right valley and redescend. 20+ brutal roundtrip miles later, we made it back to the truck.

Why Leaders Quit

It’s easy to quit a climb very early in. I felt tempted to at the beginning. My friends were in much better shape than I was and were fast. It was difficult to keep up. If I were by myself, I’m not sure how far I would have gotten. Not wanting to be seen as a quitter got me through.

We were tired through most of it. We scared ourselves by almost sliding off a cliff. We were discouraged when we dropped into the wrong valley. For us quitting wasn’t an option – the consequences were too high.

But some people do quit in those situations. I’ve been on several deep backcountry trips where someone just gave up. That’s tough to deal with. It endangers not only the individual but everyone else too.

When leaders quit, they rarely resign. 

Instead, they “quietly quit.’ They show up – but stop trying.

They quit on goals. They quit on behaviors or habits that eventually produce success. They quit the hard things: Like having difficult conversations, or creating accountability. They quit because an initiative doesn’t yield results immediately. They let themselves get distracted.

It’s normal for a leader to set out, hoping to ‘summit’ success. It’s also normal for that leader to start to realize, “Oh, this is a lot harder, longer, and less fun than I thought.” Only some leaders keep going. 

Here’s what those leaders put into place:

Adjust their expectations: They regularly assess and adjust their expectations. They emphasize open communication and realistic goal setting.

Cultivate a growth mindset: They learn to view challenges and failures as learning opportunities. They foster adaptability. They surround themselves with peers and mentors who champion resilience and flexibility.

Anticipate and plan for challenges: They actively evaluate the likely challenges. Then they determine how to avoid them or address them. No one knows what the future will bring. But as Louis Pasteur said, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.”

Eyes on the prize: They actively align and realign themselves with core objectives. They work to ensure focus. Establish clear criteria for evaluating new opportunities to stay aligned with their goals.

Build a team: Most importantly, they build a team with a culture of both accountability and support.

It’s easy to get tired, discouraged, or distracted

Remind yourself of what you are trying to accomplish, it’s value if you accomplish it, correct course if needed but keep pushing forward.

“You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.” – Chuck Yeager

Take good care,

Christian

P.S. If you found this helpful, wait until you read my newest book Train to Lead: The Unstoppable Leader’s Plan for Peak Performance.  A release date will be available soon (Possibly May?) Just chasing a few more publishing chickens back into the coop. Stay tuned!

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