I certainly will never be known as a golfer. I think the last time I golfed was 40 years ago. In fact, when I became CEO of Baxter, one of the first articles about me headlined the very fact that I did not golf 😂

However, since I try to remain open to anything, when my good friend Khalid suggested we play miniature golf, I agreed to participate. Little did I know that instead of the traditional game where you aim for keeping your score as low as possible with zero technology involved, the course was high-tech, and electronic, similar to a computer game. I did the best I could, but as you can see from the pictures, it appears that Khalid won. (I say “appears” because I’m not sure I want to admit to losing 😂)

Even though I don’t feel like I’m getting older, it appears I must be since a lot of the people I’ve enjoyed as entertainers are clearly getting older. I had the opportunity to see Paul Simon perform the other night. He’s now 84 years old, and did a wonderfuljob performing some of this old and newer songsfor more than two hours.(how could Paul Simon be 84 years old?) Well, as you can see from the pictures below, time definitely is marching on.

The first picture is from the album “Bridge over troubled Waters” (one of my favorites) that was released in 1970. The second picture is from the concert on Friday night.

I think I’m now fully recovered from my hike on part of the Appalachian Trail with my good friend Gary Gorman. I wrote an article for Forbes magazine that includes several leadership lessons.

4 Lessons In Leadership Challenges From The Appalachian Trail

  • Do hard things (Gary’s motto)
  • Know when to go up the mountain
  • Value shared experiences
  • Ponder the deeper questions

Here is a link to the article, and the entire article is included below.

 

4 Lessons In Leadership Challenges From The Appalachian Trail

When my friend Gary, whom I’ve known since we were 17-year-old college roommates, told me he was hiking the 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail, I was impressed—especially since, by the time he walks from Georgia to Maine, he’d be only the 51st hiker to complete the trek at age 70-plus. Then came the question I wasn’t expecting: “Do you want to come along for a few days?”

With my wife, Julie, also joining the adventure, I soon found myself in serious hiking gear, ready to cover 12 to 15 miles a day for five days. Even though our 60 miles were only a fraction of the overall distance, the often rough and rugged Appalachian Trail became for me a metaphor for leadership today.

Leaders face a difficult, ever-changing landscape: economic and geopolitical uncertainty, shifting trade policies, accelerating pace of change, and the continuous rollout of AI in the workplace. This is terrain that we’ve never seen before, let alone traversed.

 

As it turned out, being immersed in the wilderness—in the company of my wife of nearly 46 years and one of my closest friends—made for the perfect learning environment. Here are four lessons I learned about tackling the challenging leadership path ahead.

1. Do Hard Things

When Gary told me why he was spending five and a half months on the Appalachian Trail, his motivation was clear. He wanted to prove he could still “do hard things” and, in the process, set an example for his children and grandchildren. This became our No. 1 takeaway from the trail.

 

In my four decades of leadership, I’ve learned that it’s not a question of whether we will face changes, controversies and crises. Rather, it’s a matter of when, and the larger the organization, the more likely they will arise. There’s no avoiding the issues. When the going gets tough, we rely on our values for perspective and a moral compass. Along the way, two commitments help us chart the way forward. No matter what happens, we will do the right thing, and we will do the best we can in the time we have.

2. Know When To Go Up the Mountain

Granted, we weren’t scaling Kilimanjaro, but the first time I faced a mountain (okay, maybe it was a really tall foothill), I couldn’t help wondering: Why doesn’t the trail just go around instead of up? (Gary’s reply to my rhetorical musing: “Harry, we’re doing hard things, remember?”)

By signing up, you agree to receive this newsletter, other updates about Forbes and its affiliates’ offerings, our Terms of Service (including resolving disputes on an individual basis via arbitration), and you acknowledge our Privacy Statement. Forbes is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

It’s human nature to seek the easier path, the one that winds away from the steepest ascent to a gentler slope. Once again, the trail became the teacher. There are times when a direct approach is the best course: saving time, covering ground quickly, and perhaps avoiding an even bigger obstacle. As I’ve experienced throughout my career, when facing a competitive threat or pursuing an unexpected opportunity, there’s no going around the mountain. Upward and onward are the only way through.

3. Value Shared Experiences

No one goes it alone. Even Gary, who started his journey solo, met up with another hiker after a few days, and they’ve been on the trail together since. That’s also why Gary welcomed Julie and me to join him, because he wanted us to share in his life-changing adventure. In the parlance of leadership, this is the value of shared experiences, deepening connections—whether among family, friends, or colleagues.

For example, when I became CEO of Baxter International, a $12 billion healthcare company, I started playing a lot of softball. It was a very popular sport at Baxter, and players included executives and summer interns alike; but on the field, there were no titles, only people. Once while on a visit to a Baxter facility in Wisconsin, I was approached by one of the younger people at the plant who asked if his team could come to Chicago to play our corporate team. I remember it being a great game with some good-natured competition. Shortly thereafter, our company needed to go through downsizing, including at our Wisconsin facility. Fortunately, the rapport we had created through softball enabled us to work through any difficulties with respect and trust. For leaders, this is the value of shared experiences grounded in our humanness, not corporate hierarchy.

4. Ponder The Deeper Questions

Out on the trail, we unplugged. No phones, no email, no social media. If we had to check in, we did so only at the end of the day. The rest of the time, we walked and talked, sharing stories and memories. We discussed our lives and the difference we want to make in the world in the time we have left. And for hours at a time, we were mostly silent, each of us occupied by our own thoughts.

This experience of hiking for five days reminded me of the three-day silent retreat I attend every year. By being away from the noise and distractions, I devote meaningful time to contemplating my values, goals, priorities and commitments.

Clearly, everyone has more on their daily to-do lists than they can accomplish in 24 hours. Nonetheless, to be values-based leaders we must devote time on a regular basis—even 15 minutes a day—to self-reflect. After all, if we are not self-reflective, is it possible to know ourselves? If we don’t know ourselves, is it possible to lead ourselves? And if we can’t lead ourselves, is it possible to lead others?

The Next Step

After five days of hiking, Julie and I left the trail and returned to our routines, schedules and family lives. We went back with a newfound love of hiking, far beyond the neighborhood strolls we take. We are committed to doing the hard things for our physical, emotional and spiritual health, especially when immersed in nature.

For leaders today who face greater demands on their time and energy, seeking opportunities to unplug and self-reflect must be part of the path they walk. For some, this might mean several days or weeks on a trail. For others, it might be an hour or so walking in the woods or sitting on a park bench. This is not an escape, but an essential exploration of how and why to take on leadership challenges of today.