I had the pleasure of taking my kids skiing this past weekend as part of our spring break festivities. At five and six years old they are still learning and at the same time, progressing quickly. After an awesome day, I was reflecting on what made it so special and I couldn’t help but think about the parallels (pun intended) to leadership. Here are my four points of inspiration for the week:

1 - Sometimes you have to let them fall.

On a portion of a run that was a bit steeper than what we had been skiing, both kids fell and slid down on their backs for about a hundred yards. We skied the rest of the way down and then took the lift up to do the run again. The second time around, they made it down the steep part upright and with smiles ear to ear. As leaders, it’s tempting to hold people up to prevent them from failing. At times we have to let them fail (or fall down), so they can build up the strength to learn how to do it on their own.

2 - The bumpy/challenging road can be the most fun.

After a few times down on a fairly easy run, the kids requested; “Can we do a bigger run daddy?” As we skied the new run, we found a kid friendly adventure run filled with trees, bumps and obstacles to ski through. Although much more difficult than what we had previously experienced, the kids loved it and gained even more confidence each time down. As leaders we have to ask ourselves if we are shielding our team from challenges, or encouraging them to embrace them. Remember: our job is not to make work easy, it’s to make work meaningful. And creating opportunities for our teams to try new things can inspire new levels of engagement.

3 - There are lots of ways to get down the mountain.

My son is fairly cautious and prefers to make a lot of turns, listening to all of my instruction. My daughter on the other hand, prefers to go fast and show off her awesome balance. Both work in getting them down the hill safely, but they look very different. It’s easy for us to judge others that don’t approach work/challenges the same way we do. We have to embrace the fact that there are a number of ways to show up as a leader. There is no one right way to find success, and by encouraging our teams to find their own path, we help them reach their potential.

4 - Be patient, growth is slow at first.

The first few times skiing with my kids was pretty slow (literally) and not much fun for me. Lots of falls, helping get equipment back on, trying to teach the basics and super flat runs on the beginner slope that at times required pushes from dad. Prior to Sunday the kids had never done more than 2,000 vertical feet in one day. On Sunday we surpassed 7,500 vertical feet. Many times growth starts slow and then takes off exponentially, but a lot of leaders don’t have the patience to make it through the early stages. When we believe in our people and are willing to help them along early in their journeys, the payoff is is huge for them and our companies.

Thanks for allowing me to share leadership inspiration from two of my favorite things (skiing and my kids). I hope you’re able to take something here and apply it to your leadership journey.