The Story of a Bicycle That Won Prizes and Got Promoted — Then Started to Doubt Itself

Imagine a bicycle with only one gear. This bicycle worked hard and learned the ins and outs of riding on a flat track. Racing against other single-geared bikes, it wins prizes. After some time, its achievements are noticed by others, and they ask our hero-bicycle to join them to ride in the mountains. Our bike is excited. New challenges! New places to discover! New bikes to ride with! Recognition, appreciation, the life of a bicycle figured out!

Finally, the day of the first ride arrives. Our bicycle is taken by surprise when it tries to go up the first hill. “This is harder than I thought!” Its second surprise comes when it sees other bikes casually overtake them. “What’s wrong with me?” it starts to think. “Maybe I’m not made out for this?”. It first tries to pedal harder. It doesn’t rest. It uses pure force. It then starts to run out of energy and, seeing other bikes continue to overtake it, starts to lose motivation. “What’s wrong with me, why can’t I perform like them?” is the dominant tune that’s now on repeat inside its handlebar.

In a quiet moment of pause from the unproductive inner chatter, it hears a sound: “Click. Click.” It comes from another bicycle as it, argh, overtakes our former champion.

One more “Click.” as another bike starts to pass by.

Our hero notices something that slipped its attention earlier. They have something unusual, unfamiliar, on their handlebars.

“Stop staring at my derailleur!” snaps an overtaking bike.

“A what?” thinks our hero, partly confused, partly inspired.

“My derailleur - to switch gears!”

And then it dawned upon our hero: they all have gears! And not just two, but a whole range of them.

“So, nothing is wrong with me?” - asks our hero.

“Who knows... maybe there is, maybe not” - shakes off the passerby.

“I just need to get a dera-blah-blah system and learn how to use it?” - continues our former champion with a glimpse of hope.

“If you wanna ride mountains, that will help.”

“How long will it take me to learn how to use it?”

“Time!” - yells the passerby as it makes a move that creates another “Click”.

I see this sometimes happen in my coaching practice. Professionals step into new roles thanks to their past achievements only to be dismayed that their previous skillset, and often their mindset, are not set up to deliver good results at a new level or in a different terrain.

For example, being demanding on oneself does not always translate well into being as demanding on your new team. The derailleur here could be a range for approaching accountability and performance conversations.

Or the mindset that has formed working in a highly competitive company may not translate as well to a place, the culture of which is to put people first and results second, or at least on par.

Or when a leader who is used to working with people who don’t need to be reminded of deadlines (well-reflected in “Responsibility” Strength if using Gallup’s Strengths assessments) now working with a highly talented team whose strengths are skewed towards creativity and need regular check-ins as structure to make sure the project moves along as planned.

If you ever find yourself asking, “What’s wrong with me?” - STOP. That’s a bad question.

Ask better questions.

Questions like “What do I need to learn?” or “What needs to be done differently here?”

Find out your own de-something-something-reailleur and learn how to use it.

Dedicated to all people who are currently challenged.