Running a clean line

Colleagues,

MVP: It doesn’t need to be excellent if it isn’t that important. Save your energy for things that really matter.
 
Last weekend we had the opportunity to raft down the Ocoee River with our son Lance as our guide. Of course, it was an awesome time, but it was especially cool because this was Lance’s first time guiding the upper portion of the river.
 
When going down the river, there are specific paths, called lines, that a raft guide tries to run. Hitting a clean line means everything goes like it is supposed to. Lance did hit some really good lines and it was a thrill.
 
When a guide doesn’t hit a clean line, different things can happen. 
 
Many times, a sloppy line may still be clean enough, in that nothing bad happens.
 
However, a bad line in the wrong place can result in having people in the water (swimmers), and that can be a very bad thing, especially in rocky rapids.
 
Guides always try to run clean lines, but they also know that every line doesn’t need to be perfect, unless the consequences are very high.
 
As leaders, sometimes we get too focused on running clean lines when it doesn’t really matter. We need to focus our energy on growing people, not making great reports or presentations, or forms.
 
If you are into outdoor adventure, you can see some of Lance’s trips here.
 
Cheers!
 
Frederick