Lessons from the Slopes on Management Style

I met Sven while dining at a nice, cozy chalet in Zermatt. A friendly conversation led to us skiing together the next day.

During our first run together, it was clear that Sven was quite a great skier, and he considered himself deservedly so. Impressed, I paid closer attention to his skills, and I realized that he was using the “A-Frame Stance,” a style of skiing that was used predominantly prior to the advent of new carving skis. This was affecting his ability to make rapid turns and was causing him stress to the knees, resulting in occasional pain and soreness. However, Sven was totally unaware that he was even using the technique.

After an hour or so, he asked me if I could share any tips, so I brought the A-frame to his attention. We spent the rest of the day adapting the stance to a more modern-day parallel shin skiing stance. Along the way, we talked about how we learned to ski as kids, shared stories of our travels since, and laughed about how humbling it can be to relearn how to ski.

After a full day with Sven, this experience made me think how difficult it can be to hold a mirror to ourselves. Like Sven, unknowing of his A-Frame stance and the resulting impact, we are all often unaware of the things we could change to make our lives more effective and meaningful. By sharing positive constructive suggestions with others, we can empower them toward growth and well-being.

This practice is what we call Feedforward. The more common term ‘feedback’ can hold a more negative connotation, and it can subconsciously guide us to respond to situations by simply picking out what is wrong. Instead, ‘feedforward’ is always solution-based, and it encourages us to frame our shared insights in a way that will make the recipient even better in the future.

Think of it like this: With feedforward, we drive our car by looking through the windshield to see where we are going – occasionally checking the rearview mirror. With feedback, we are primarily looking in the rearview mirror, with limited focus on what to do about what lies ahead.

We would never drive a car by solely looking in the rearview mirror – we look forward! We occasionally need to look back to carry lessons learned forward. The real purpose of that is to gather insights so we can have better focus when looking through the windshield.

For example, Sven’s A-frame used to be the primary technique for many professional skiers before modern developments. His technique was not wrong, it was simply outdated. Conditions and equipment have changed, and the stance is no longer as effective as it could be.

The same is true for our leadership style and business collaboration. Many leadership and management styles that used to be the standard are no longer best practices. By practicing positive and supportive feedforward, we can uncover blindspots in a respectful manner, and build stronger teams and communities.

You can start implementing feedforward into your life right now.

Few people actually enjoy receiving critical feedback without any clues on what to do in the future to improve. People love receiving feedforward suggestions on how to be even better.

Now, flip it upside down and ask others for feedforward suggestions on yourself, which sounds like this for example; “Hey, I am working on being more collaborative with your team… Can you give me a couple of specific suggestions on what I could do over the next 30-60 days to step up in that area?” Listen to the ideas, note them down, and say “Thank you”.

Exchanges like this are friendly, comfortable, and empowering for both sides! Let’s not miss the opportunity to accelerate growth in others as well as ourselves.