Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
August is coming to a close, which means that mixing things up with the young pups is about to end.
As I mentioned last week, every August a number of college swimmers join us for our masters swim practices.
I’ve had the opportunity to swim in the same lane with these kids the whole month.
They’ve taught me a bunch.
I’ve seen past my own ceilings.
Here’s a couple lessons I’ve learned from these giants — I hope they serve you to see past your ceilings, too!
Whack-A-Mole
One of the leadership assessments I like to use in my coaching practice is the Hogan Leadership Assessment — a series of assessments that explores 1) go-to tendencies, 2) derailers, and 3) values.
Anytime I get to the assessment debrief with a leader around their derailers, I always use the game Whack-A-Mole as a metaphor — you know, those moles that pop up on the board and you have to knock them down with a padded mallet.
That’s what a derailer is: a behavior that we have to be incredibly diligent and mindful of — that we have to knock down — or else it will hinder our effectiveness.
In August, I had a lot moles popping up in the pool.
I’ve gotten pretty used to leading lanes within masters swim groups.
For the past two years, I’ve led the fastest lane for the team I’m on. I’m pretty comfortable there.
Enter a few 18-22 year old Division I and III college swimmers and I have no place leading the fast lane.
The trouble is, I still belong in the lane.
But, here’s what happens with swimming: when you move from leading the lane to being in the mix within the lane, you have a lot to think about:
keeping up with the person in front of you
staying ahead of the person behind you
not getting lapped
These college swimmers created a lot of change for me — and I instantly got uncomfortable.
I was playing at a different level — and I was questioning my abilities.
It was stressful.
And here’s the thing I tell leaders all the time about their derailers: the more stressful the situation, the more likely the derailers are to pop up.
That’s exactly what happened — a bunch of bad swimming habits instantly emerged that I thought I had completely knocked out:
pulling on the lane lines
one-handed touches on the wall
skipping cross-over turns on the individual medley
spinning my stroke when I got tired
taking swim strokes during kick sets
I lost my confidence. I started questioning my abilities. And I felt like an imposter.
I guess for me, it was a beautiful lesson in leadership.
As we move up — as we start playing at a different level — we’re going to be uncomfortable.
We’re not as familiar with the people immediately around us.
Where do we belong?
What is our role?
What are their expectations of me?
And when we get to this place, it’s going to be tempting to think that we need to lean on our derailers to help us keep out.
But, here’s the thing: they’re called derailers for a reason — they hinder performance and they hinder relationships.
So, take a lesson from me in the pool: the next time you find yourself playing at a different level, trust the process that got you there — and don’t get tempted by your derailers.
When things get stressful, get extra diligent and mindful of your moles.
The Single Most Important Thing to Get Better
As a coach, I like to ask open-ended questions — they’re where the meat lives.
Wednesday was the last day we had the opportunity to swim with all of the college swimmers — they are slowing starting to make their way back to their respective schools.
So, I got curious: “What is the single most important thing that will make someone a better swimmer?”
I think their responses speak to swimming — and a whole host of other personal and professional life domains:
Swimmer 1: “Be consistent.”
Swimmer 2: “Keep it fun.”
Swimmer 3: “Do the little things.”
A few months ago, I wrote about starting with joy.
Joy leads to consistency.
Consistency leads to skill acquisition and fitness.
And through skill acquisition and fitness — and I’m not just talking about the athletic kind — success follows.
Taken together, these are some pretty darn smart college kids.
And Swimmer 3, I’m paying attention — especially around my derailers.
We can learn a lot by standing on the shoulders of giants.
Onward.