Showing Up

I go to the gym closest to my house. I don't go there because of proximity; instead, I go there because they have four Peloton bikes among the free weights, kettlebells, and treadmills. Over the years, I have focused my cycling on road bikes and mountain bikes. I even had a season where I only rode a recumbent. Now, I am in the Midwest, and gravel is king. Gravel can be tricky. One wrong move and the washboard fights to buck you off the bike, or your front tire splashes into loose gravel, flinging you toward a ditch. So, on mornings when I am slow waking up and too foggy to navigate the gravel, I clip into a Peloton at the gym across the street. I select my class, and as the stream begins, the instructor reminds me that the toughest part of any workout is showing up. Showing up is always the first step, whether working out in a gym or leading an organization. Showing up is essential for leaders because showing up is the first step leading to engagement, change, and progress.

Showing up means making a choice. In our social media-infused culture, choosing to show up is often lost in a dopamine cloud of voyeurism by those looking at people who chose to show up. Showing up is always an intentional choice. Therefore, not choosing to show up is choosing not to show up. Showing up is always a choice.

Showing up means setting aside your priorities for a greater purpose or mission. Showing up for a workout means you commit to improving your health, going to bed on time, and not hitting the snooze. Showing up as a leader means putting the organization's and others' needs before your own. You choose to engage, helping others win, even when your contribution is unseen.

Showing up means stepping into the difficult or risky. Showing up for a workout is opting in for discomfort for better health. Showing up as a leader might be uncomfortable at times. As leaders, we show up and navigate change. Change is often a catalyst, initiating broken relationships, shifting expectations, tense discussions, and missed cues and perceptions. Change is often uncomfortable and rarely easy.

Showing up is the most difficult part of leadership. There is no progress unless you show up. Sometimes, every leader would rather do anything else than show up. Yet, the call of leadership is the call to show up. Leadership is showing up at the table, dialing and making that call, and starting challenging conversations. Like George Bailey, from Frank Capra's 1946 film, It’s A Wonderful Life, we might listen to the temptation that life would be easier if we didn't show up. But showing up is essential because it's the first step to engagement, change, and progress. As the Peloton instructor says, the first victory in each day is the decision to show up and clip in.