Contact me directly Chris@Go-Northbound.com
In this episode of the Northbound Podcast, we explore why effective leadership requires front-loading difficulty instead of avoiding it. Drawing from a northbound journey through California's High Sierra, this conversation uses Forester Pass and Glen Pass—two of the most demanding climbs on the trail—as a metaphor for leadership. These passes don't eliminate future challenges, but they fundamentally change how the rest of the journey is experienced. Leadership works the same way.
This episode challenges the tendency to delay hard conversations, decisions, and accountability in favor of "easy wins." Avoidance doesn't preserve energy—it compounds difficulty. Courage, on the other hand, compresses it. When leaders tackle the hardest issues first, confidence grows, clarity increases, and momentum follows. The terrain doesn't flatten, but leaders become more capable of carrying the weight.
This is a practical, action-oriented conversation about building leadership capacity, earning trust, and creating speed by addressing reality head-on. Leadership is not a checklist—it's terrain. And how you navigate it determines how far you and your team can go.
Leadership is terrain, not a checklist
Forester Pass and Glen Pass as a metaphor for front-loading difficulty
Why avoidance compounds leadership challenges instead of reducing them
How hard leadership moments build confidence, judgment, and resilience
The psychological nature of momentum in leadership
Why starting with "easy wins" delays real progress
The difference between courageous leadership and reckless decision-making
How tackling hard issues immediately builds trust within teams
Why courage early creates speed later
Tackle the hardest leadership issues first
Avoidance drains energy and grows problems
Hard conversations strengthen leaders rather than weaken them
Confidence follows action, not the other way around
Momentum shifts after the hardest climb
Easy-first leadership delays progress
Teams trust leaders who confront reality
Courage early creates clarity, trust, and long-term speed
This episode is a call to leaders to stop avoiding the climb and start leading with courage. At Northbound, we don't avoid hard terrain—we take it head-on, and we help each other carry the load all the way to the summit.
