Paddling with Purpose: Leadership and Friction Traps in a Kayak Marathon!
*This is part of a series of blogs which weave a narrative retelling of a kayak adventure to links that experience to a specific leadership/ organizational principle. Feel free to jump ahead to “Applying these Lessons Ashore” if you’d like to skip the narrative portion.
In everything we do there are lessons, metaphors, and reflections aplenty. A gardener can talk a lot about delayed gratification, a sommelier will bridge the gap between science and art, but an ultra marathon kayaker may just help you better appreciate Bob Sutton’s book: The Friction Project.
It was 4am, cold, quiet, and almost completely dark save for the bobbing headlamps of 8 foolhardy friends who were about to launch their kayaks in Kingston Ontario and paddle the 200km to Ottawa in 2 days (Parks Canada suggests trying it in 7). For this author, it would be his 9th year in a row taking on this challenge. A test of individual physical and mental endurance, but also of leadership, teambuilding, and friction fixing.
Embracing the Role of Friction Fixers
It was foggy as we set off, the headlamps rendered useless. We set off across the wide lake in search of the narrow channel that would spill into the Rideau River waterway. The first 30 minutes of this trip are the most critical, not just for navigation, but for setting the tone and team morale. This adventures was ideated by myself and Michael and each year we bring along new faces, Brian was on his 6th, and the three of us made up the leadership team. Everyone else was trusting us into the unknown, willing to push themselves with the promise of self-discovery and adventure in an age where that feels increasingly rare. We had told them about the IKEA effect, how we increase the value of an item or activity if we’ve had to struggle to achieve it, and we promised them a struggle.
Two new recruits were zig-zagging, they hadn’t kayaked before and didn’t really know how to paddle. The other three new recruits were murmuring disagreement about where we should be heading. This is where the leadership team sprung into action. We were trustees of the team’s time.
We’ve seen this every year, we had done our “friction forensics” analysis and new the risks at stake. Even getting to the start line is something to be applauded, not many wake up at 4am let alone push off into the unknown. The team wanted to be assured they can do this and they can trust us to achieve the promised pay off. The leadership team confidently announced the direction, even in the dark we knew where to head. Michael paddled fast enough that others couldn’t argue and were focused on staying in sight and not losing him in the fog. Brian and I dropped back, thankful there were only two zig-zaggers this year and performed an on-the-fly coaching session. It didn’t take long before we caught back up with the group where the lake narrows into Swan Lake. As the sun rose and the namesake flocks became visible, and we got the first “wow” of the day.
Oblivious Leaders
Leadership is a journey of a million paddle strokes. Whether in work or on an adventure, leadership takes practice. One of the most important skills a leader can possess is awareness. Awareness of the external environment, of the team-dynamic, and the self-awareness to see the knock-on effects of their decisions. As the saying goes, “be an Elephant not a HiPPO.”
Great leaders get close to the action, ensuring they understand the pressures they’re asking their teams to undergo. For the first few years we thought we had this box checked, we were in the trenches with the team after all, our shoulders ached too, our necks equally sunburnt. It wasn’t until the 4th year we realized how oblivious we were to our knowledge advantage and it’s effect on morale. FOOD! The leadership team knew exactly where and when we were stopping for food, how much further in the grueling sun at our aggressive pace we’d need to go. Psychological safety takes time, and the new team members didn’t want to be seen as week and ask about snacks as they became increasingly hangry, with pasta bowls mirages just out of reach! This knowledge gap was easy to overcome, now we share in advance where along the map our fuel-stops would be, and provide routine updates while on the water – this has been transformative to morale in the years since.
Great leaders also know how to flex the hierarchy. The best leaders create space for new leaders to emerge. On long easy stretches of the river, we encourage new team members to provide a ‘ted talk’ or suggest a game to play on the water. This flattening of the hierarchy creates space for creativity, passion, and to allow others to practice and hone their skills. Sometimes hierarchies need to be rigid. Like any group of middle-aged men, this trip is planned about 4 months in advance to secure the vacation time – which means we go rain or shine. In year 7 we were on the water during one of the worst storms in years. We were about 10k from a lock where we could take shelter. We corralled the team into a close-knit formation near the bank and pushed on through the howling wind and sharp pellets of rain. (BANG!) lightning crashed overhead with near instant thunder replying. We made the call, off onto the bank! Brian was first out on the bank, Michael and I were last. There was no room for debate. (Side note, a friendly face called us under their cottage deck to get out of the rain, showing Canadian hospitality offering coffee and cookies!). We would miss our time goal, but leadership means putting the team first.
Addition Sickness
The first two years of this trip we tried all sorts of ideas we thought would improve the experience. One such idea was to switch out Kayaks every 2 hours. The concept was that those with heavier boats would get a break, and that by changing boats we wouldn’t fatigue any one muscle group. This was a good idea in theory, everyone hated it in practice. People got used to their boats, they didn’t like the change and there was no pay off in speed or time as everyone had to constantly get used to new boats. This idea was scrapped. Great leaders eliminate “sludge” wherever possible and know that sometimes striving for perfection is an imperfection.
Broken Connections
Big Rideau is so named because it is, well, big! The section takes about 8 hours of paddling at a clipped pace. By now we were pretty good at working as a team, but we were no longer as fresh as when we had set out. Tired and sore in ways we haven’t been all year, we set out across one of the biggest challenges. Big rideau isn’t just challenging due to its size, it’s also BUSY! Lined with cottages on both shores the fishermen are often out in a frenzy to get to their “top secret” spots, creating diamond patterned waves which have capsized even confident paddlers in past trips (ie: me). As we settled into a rhythm, the leadership team began to set parameters about what to expect. Communication is key! As we traverse the big body we will inevitably end up in our own siloed ‘pain caves’ putting in the hours and miles. In doing so we may not hear the boat coming from behind, or not notice the sea-plane landing to our right. We created rules about how far and siloed we could become before having to regroup. We would rotate who led the pack every hour to provide breaks to the lead paddlers. We made clear that there is no ‘hero’ or best paddler, we are a team and not in competition. The mission and vision of an organization, or adventure, is an important north star, but it is also important to remind teams of shared values. We achieve little in silos, but as a collective we can move mountains. The best way to do hard things, is: together.
Fast and Frenzied
If we were going to reach our goal of paddling the Rideau in under 36 hours, paralysis by analysis wasn’t an option. That said, taking dangerous risks, pushing the team too hard, or making a silly navigational error can also scupper the chance of beating our 36-hour target. We’ve all heard the slow slogans: “slow down for fast relief”, “slow is smooth and smooth is fast”, “slow and steady wins the race”. While it may be important to keep urgency high when tackling a workplace change initiative, or an Ultra-Kayak-marathon, it is also important to be custodians of a team’s morale. Pushing a team too hard can lead to burnout, bullying, and bad decisions. It can kill creativity, spark selfishness, and leads to miserable morale. When a team can trust their leaders to spot bad friction, and inject good friction, they can be willing to go fast. Their speed is underlined by the trust that when things are going too fast a leader will know when to slow down. As we paddle through the Rideau, there are some 40-odd speed limit signs for motor boats, as we past each one the team of kayakers will yell at one another to “Slow Down!” and promptly break out into laughter as we desperately try to break the comically high speed limit for an non-engine craft! This act of celebrate slowing down is also a key motivator to going fast!
Knowing When To Set Up Camp
Sometimes, you just need to set up camp. We have set out on this ultra-marathon 9 times, we’ve only completed it 5, and of those 5 only 3 times with the full cadre of new recruits. This trip is hard. Every time we have to quit, or lose a new paddler is a lesson in humility. But, when you fail, it is because you were found trying. These moments are hard, but they are also joyful. We celebrate what we did accomplish, which is still usually quite remarkable. We promise to try again next year, and we always do. The IKEA effect is real, the passion, pride, and comradery of the team for tackling this challenge is the real reward, finishing is just a cherry on top. This journey is a physical one, but it’s also one for the soul, a chance to push yourself and reflect on life, work, or family in a totally unplugged environment.
For me, I reflected on leadership, the Friction Project, and the importance of knowing when to keep paddling and when to set up camp.
