My Brother, the Mystic “Good morning Allen, today I’m leaving for Vancouver.” Allen stares, not recognizing me. He mumbles, “I don't know what you're talking about.” I didn’t try further to make him understand. It's best to let him talk about what he wants, usually circular, with a few words on the same topic. “I'm getting broken with my PPA*.” “Hmm.” “It's not possible for me to use my brain, so I'm getting into my soul.” “Into your soul…” I affirm what he’s said. “It's a pushing thing, like...
8 days ago • 2 min read
I Went on CBC to Talk About Bikes… and Ended Up Defending My Fertility “Live in fifteen seconds.” In 1995 a CBC producer called, inviting me to join Vicki Gabereau in her studio. I asked how I could prepare, and the producer told me not to worry. “She’ll just focus on Rocky Mountain and your success with mountain bikes.” An assistant got me seated at the table in front of the mike, carefully positioning my headphones. I was relaxed, I had done this many times. As the interview went on, she...
15 days ago • 1 min read
The Self-Help Trap: When Improving Keeps You Stuck In the late 1990’s our RaceFace manager and I went out for a beer after the Eurobike show in Germany. He was very self-focused, a disciplined leader with a very competitive view of the world. I’ll never forget his response when I asked him, “Do you treat all your business and social relationships as competition?” "It’s the only way.” he responded, with just an off-hand wave. “It’s a contest in which I intend to succeed. Others will inevitably...
22 days ago • 3 min read
What’s Thistle and What’s Seed. On LinkedIn, I’m constantly propositioned to buy the seeds of leadership growth. Titles bombard me through sponsored posts, “Here's the 12 Seeds to Grow Successful Leaders.” For the first two-thirds of my life, this worked. I needed these seeds and planted them to grow a flourishing family, company and a leadership personality, one that caused me to be appreciated within a larger community. But I’m realizing that those seeds will not be the best to carry me...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Learning to Have New Ambitions. I wrote last week, “The Rare Gift of Attention”, and many of you responded positively. Thanks for that. But none of this attention-giving is natural for me. It’s actually often frustrating. My attention is towards ambition. It’s ambition that drives me into new and great projects. I’ve prided myself on pushing the boundaries of business and adventure. It’s surprising that after all these decades I can still look back over my shoulder and see clearly the mind of...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
The Rare Gift of Attention I’ve spent most of my life paying attention to projects, with just enough attention to people to keep the company healthy. I told Geoff I’ve noticed something changing; I’m more interested in the person than in their projects. He didn’t let that pass. “You spent twenty-five years as a go-to guy for the staff and customers in your business. You were a problem solver. Why do you want to change your focus?” I’ve found that Geoff always pokes me to see myself in new...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Strategic Intent: 3 Words to Describe My True North I used to write words that formed our company direction; the “Strategic Intent”. There’s no business to lead now, but I’m thinking I need some words, some articulation for where I’m going. A sentence that holds me to my “true north”. In the 1980’s, we were on fire; we designed and built Canada’s first mountain bikes. But we had parts shortages, manufacturing problems and component failures. Our commitment was that the bikes needed to be...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
I Choose You The other evening I was re-watching the 2014 film “The Judge”. It was unpleasantly real, even harsh. There’s a closing bit with father and son, estranged for years, out fishing on a still lake. That short scene slipped past my defenses, and made me contemplate the simple security of being loved. The father, the judge, turns to son, the lawyer, and says quietly, “You are.” Son looks over. “I am?” “Question you asked me… about the best lawyer and all? I choose you.”, the father...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hard Human Bones, or Drifting Jellyfish Getting old means I’m experiencing an increasing number of major life changes, including career transitions and retirement, my children that have become adults, the loss of loved ones, health challenges, and eventually the loss of my independence. How am I going to handle these changes? I was looking up at the dark night sky in Nandi Hills, Kenya, and I was surprised to see the same Milky Way Galaxy, when standing by Great Slave Lake in the NWT. Earth,...
2 months ago • 2 min read