The act of climbing a mountain provides many opportunities for lessons in leadership. Such was the case on a trip to climb Mount Langley.

There are many paths to the same goal. My plan may not be the best.
I’ve long since given up technical rock climbing, but mountain climbing remains a passion. This year we chose to climb Mount Langley, the southern most peak in the Sierra Nevada range that exceeds 14,000 feet. I had climbed it once so I declared myself the unofficial leader. The route as I remember was very straightforward. The first day of a two-day climb is a leisurely hike that leads us up and over a pass into a base camp. When we crested the pass, however, none of the landmarks were recognizable. Not wanting to appear lost, I tried to hide that fact. My buddies, however, were too astute. Despite having led them in the wrong direction, we (now making decisions as a team) were able to navigate using our good sense of direction and many years of experience in the backcountry. After three extra hours of wondering around we finally came to rest on the backside of our intended approach route. With the aide of team members, we were once again heading in the right direction. If we had of relied on my leadership alone, we could still be wondering around.

Even when you are sure of the final destination, it helps to start on the right path.
Once back on the correct path, our climb went as clock work. We topped out at 9 AM the second day, signed the register, took a few pictures and headed home. Now that I was on familiar ground, I could assume the unofficial lead. And as such, I led them out passed a beautiful series of lakes (our original intended base camp) and a leisurely hike back to the car. Getting close to the trailhead, we asked one of the incoming hikers how far to the parking lot. His response was, “Which one?” All of a sudden it dawned on us why none of the landmarks looked familiar the day before. We started from the wrong trailhead…If you don’t start from the right path, it’s much more difficult to get to where you want to go.