Walking the Camino: Leadership and Life Lessons

In this bonus episode, Winnie reflects on her experiences this summer walking the Camino with her family and the leadership and life lessons she learned along the way.

Be prepared but don’t over prepare. Allow for serendipitous opportunities to emerge for a more present experience.

Sushil planned all of the logistics to get us to our

starting place. After that, we just started walking, following the signs as we

went. We didn’t know where we were going to stay or where we were going to eat.

We trusted the path thousands of people before us had traveled. We always found

a place to eat and sleep. Sometimes, meticulous detailed planning down to the

hour can often get in the way of spontaneous discovery.

Align on the final destination. Even if it’s not clear

how you’ll get there or how long it will take.

Our goal: get to Santiago. We budgeted 10 days. After the

first two days we realized this isn’t walking, it is hiking. Mountains. We’re

not a particularly outdoorsy or athletic family. All of our walking in NYC

didn’t fully prepare us for this. At first we’re like 10 days? We need more

time! But as our bodies and minds adjusted to the hiking we got it done in 9

days! Having clarity on the final goal pushed us forward.

The people you surround yourself with will drag you down

or bring you up. Choose wisely.

We thought we’d meet lots of people along the way. But

for the first half we were mostly on our own. So, we really depended on each

other to keep our spirits up. Later on my youngest daughter connected with a

woman walking with her adult son. They told each other stories; they raced each

other along the way – sometimes backwards! This woman was so kind and caring.

She gave my daughter the energy and confidence she needed that day to keep

walking.

Embrace negative feelings with compassion: encourage

honesty, listen, empathize, adjust when you can, remember the goal, keep

going.

Our bodies were sore at the start. Like I can’t walk, I'm

so sore. There were shin splints. Some of us got a cold. One night we stayed at

a hostel with no hot water, it smelled like a wet dog (because there was one)

and there were lots of flies. Not the best. One day we climbed an elevation of

5,000 feet. Each of us hit a wall at different times. The rest of us listened

and gave extra support to the person who needed it the most.

Understand each person’s motivation. The drive we have to

move forward can be different for everyone.

Each family member was motivated to walk “yet another

mile” in different ways. Popsicles. How fast can you walk a mile? One piece of

candy per mile. Listening to music. Or an audio book. Searching for kitty cats!

A beer at lunch.…

Unexpected people can bring wisdom and joy in unforeseen

ways.

As we began our trek on day two, we encountered an

artisan selling hand-made rosaries and other trinkets. The guy, a Colombian

transplant, looked just like Mr. Bloomsbury from the Curious George

movie–scrawny, long silvery hair held in a ponytail with a gigantic mustache to

match. As we said our goodbyes, his message to Sushil was: “Descanso!” Which

means: take it easy. Don’t rush the Camino.

Six hours later after a spectacular trek up to 4900 feet,

we entered a tiny 1500 year old village nestled in the Galician mountains.

Loitering about when we arrived was a man who looked exactly like our Mr.

Bloomsbury. Apparently, he had forgotten to give Sushil his rosary! So he got

on his motorcycle, rode into the mountains and miraculously found us!

Roles will always emerge, whether purposely or by

default. Be proactive in the role you want to play and the contributions you

want to make.

At the end of the Camino, we decided to give out

“participation awards.” We collectively decided what contribution we thought

each person made (in secret). Rummaging through a cheesy gift shop we found

gifts that symbolized their “award”. Hilarity ensued as we tried to explain how

their award somehow was represented in this weird little present. Sushil

received “The Camino Sherpa Award” for being the “spiritual guide” of our walk.

Our daughters received the following awards: The Mood-Lifter Award, The Purist

Award, The Most Resilient Award. I got the “General Award” which I thought was

pretty lame until they clarified it wasn’t “in-general” but for being the

commander/enforcer of sorts.

Mindset changes everything. Sam Sanchez from Apple

Fitness says: “You are meant to do hard things.” Besides, the most difficult

feats bring the most satisfying rewards.

Mindset was everything when walking the Camino. And if my

mindset wasn’t right, usually this impacted everyone else. Honestly, this quote

popped into my head all the time. Everyday we encountered some sort of

challenge. But if we believe we are meant to do hard things, that means we are

meant to be here, to figure it out, to push through. I thought about the

experience we were giving our kids. To push through, to be resilient, to do

this thing even if it was really hard at times. The finish was sweet. Looking

back now is even sweeter. You forget the hard things.

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