Trust Your Belayer: What Climbing Taught Me About Leadership
Most leaders say they trust their teams, but many still spend their days checking in, second-guessing, and holding on too tightly. The truth is, you can’t move upward if you’re always looking down. One of the best lessons I’ve learned about leadership didn’t come from a boardroom. It came from a climbing wall.
In rock climbing, the belayer is the person on the ground responsible for managing the rope and protecting the climber from death or serious injury in the event of a fall. The belayer can’t stop a fall from happening, but they can turn a dangerous fall into a safe one.
When I’m climbing, my goal is to reach the top (ideally without falling) and make it back down safely. To do that, I need to trust the system: my gear, my training, and just as importantly, my belayer. If I spend the whole climb micromanaging the belayer, a few things happen:
1. I’m distracting the belayer. The belayer’s job is to focus on me. If I keep shouting instructions or questioning their moves, I pull their attention away from what matters most: managing the rope and keeping me safe. The same goes for leaders and teammates. Constant second-guessing gets in the way of their focus and undermines trust. It makes everything less safe.
2. I should be looking up, not down. My job as the climber is to find the next hold and make progress. Looking down too much breaks that momentum. In work and leadership, the same is true. My energy is better spent looking forward and upward toward the vision, the strategy, and the next set of decisions. If I’ve chosen a capable team, I should let them do their work while I do mine.
3. If there’s risk, it’s mine to own. Sometimes I suspect that part of the system might not be perfect. Maybe the rope is a little worn, or the belayer is new. At that point, I have three choices: fix it, accept the risk, or do a bit of both. But whatever I choose, I own the outcome. Blaming the belayer after a fall doesn't change the fact that I climbed the route anyway. I can’t control everything, and trying to do so makes success less likely, not more.
A belayer also has a different perspective on the climb. From the ground, they can often spot handholds or footholds I might not see from my angle. “There’s a foothold by your left knee” or “You’ve got feet” might be all it takes to help me move forward. In the same way, trusted teammates can offer insight, pattern recognition, or creative options that aren't obvious from where I'm standing. That only happens when trust flows both ways.
There’s one more thing worth noting: a good belayer is always looking up. Their eyes are on the climber, watching for every move, ready to react. That steady attention keeps falls short and helps the climber resume close to where they left off, minimizing the impact of mistakes and setbacks. And if I keep looking down, I’m not just losing focus – I’m breaking the trust we built. To move forward with purpose, we both need to be looking in the same direction.
Whether you're leading a team or climbing a wall, trust, focus, and shared direction make all the difference. If you’ve chosen the right people and equipped them well, keep your eyes on the next hold and let them manage the rope. You’re not climbing alone, and you’re not supposed to.
To comment, visit this post on LinkedIn - Trust Your Belayer: What Climbing Taught Me About Leadership
© 2025 – OHX Solutions LLC