Start with the Journey in Mind

I recently visited Harpers Ferry. As we walked from the parking lot to the town, we passed the blacksmith’s shop—lucky timing, it turned out.

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The blacksmith was waiting for a group of students to arrive, and since he had a few extra minutes, he jumped into a quick lesson for us.

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I loved the first thing he said: “I always teach my students to make a j-hook first. It requires skills they’ll use in many other projects.”

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The j-hook lets them practice shaping curves, bringing an end to a point, finishing with a decorative touch—skills they’ll build on when they move to the next project, the s-hook, and beyond.

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It was such a great reminder that, no matter our area of expertise, there are certain things that span leadership. In this case, it's that when we're working with others, teaching or mentoring, it's super helpful to take a thoughtful approach, so skills can build in a meaningful way.

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As I write this, it feels maybe a little obvious, but I can also look back and see plenty of times where I started with what felt most timely or interesting or easy vs. what was going to cause the best outcomes in the long run.

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So, this is just a reminder to pause and ask:

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Where can we start that will let someone learn the skills and info they’ll use again and again and build on over time?

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This can be applied in lots of situations:

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>> What we start with when we onboard

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>> How we approach performance improvement

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>> Where we start when we’re delegating

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Over my time offering leadership training, I started to notice that most things came back to emotional intelligence - effective communication, difficult conversations, coaching skills, healthy team dynamics... all require it, so now I use that as the starting point.

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I didn't always do it that way, but over time, it became clear: emotional intelligence is my j-hook when it comes to leadership development programs.

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I’m curious, are there areas of your work where you have room to identify a small, foundational skill that, when practiced first, could make everything else a bit easier?

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It might not be perfect, it will probably take a few tries to discover, and will likely change with time, but starting there could be one of the best ways to build real skill and capacity—one hook at a time.

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