for the Siskiyou Hiker
by Gabriel Howe, Executive Director
29 OCTOBER 2020 | ASHLAND, OR. — A full decade ago, this organization emerged as a group of 20-somethings who didn’t know what we were doing. But we also weren’t afraid to get our hands dirty and go to work for a cause, which was to start restoring access to our backwoods trails. 
Seasoned leadership
That group of kids grew into adults and built an organization with solid footing, strong partnerships, and a powerful community of supporters. We matured, we built an institution, and I’ve been part of it the whole way.
But when new interns come in, that grassroots quality is hard to illustrate. I’m not a 20-something anymore. To them I’m old, now pushing 40. These young people are close to half my age. Born at the turn of the millenium, for many of them, 9/11 is their first big memory. Some of them are too young to even remember that.
A generation divided
As far as institutions go, what they think of are big banks and corporations squeezing the life out of society. They didn’t grow up around Scouts, Rotary, and the many other civic institutions that were once the fabric of our society. Instead, they grew up with Instagram and Facebook, isolated in deep echo chambers. The traditional institutions failed them.
Coming into SMC, they don’t always trust me. Part of that is because I’ve changed, too. I used to be the fun boss who brought cold beverages to the trailhead. Now I’m more reserved and there’s a couple of degrees of separation in the organizational chart between me and the interns. But there’s more to it than that. They aren’t quick to trust me because I’m a symbol of the institution. To them, SMC looks like some big apparatus, not a grassroots club led by 20-something program directors, and I’m at the head of it.
Extending trust
So in the last couple of years, I’ve had to go out of my way to build trust with interns who see me as more a boss-man than a mentor and team leader. This year, I took them on a tour of our footprint. We camped on the Smith River, swam up the Chetco, slept on the beach, and went sea kayaking. I handed them the keys and the map and had them lead us on a trip from the coast to Panther Ridge.
And up there we hiked a couple of miles to Hanging Rock where we’d camp for the night. I gathered them around at dusk with one question: “What does leadership look like to you?” I asked.
They all had good answers, some better than others. As the sun set over the Pacific, casting a warm glow on Hanging Rock, Bryson Lander asked me, “What does leadership mean to you?”
Leadership traits
I went through my staff’s different leadership styles. “Nick is quiet and leads by example,” I said. “Rose leads with compassion and empathy, and Trevor has his own style of motivating people and making it fun.
These are all leadership traits, and I see a leader in everyone. There’s a leader in everyone,” I emphasized. “Don’t forget that: There’s a leader in everyone. You don’t have to be the biggest or the most vocal or the strongest personality to be a good leader. Leadership is being a giver, it means giving to the group, whatever that is. If it’s your muscle, or your motivational techniques, or your humor, leaders give, whatever their style is, towards the greater good.”
And on these trips in these moments, I try to connect interns with the SMC story. I try to show them how these institutions aren’t some fire-walled mystery that they have no place in. “I was much closer to your age than my own when I started bringing volunteers out at Babyfoot Lake,” I tell them. “What you do now has bearing on the organizations you interact with or you start. It’s not too early to get engaged.”
This sentiment of succession transcends throughout the organization. I’ve been deliberate in handing the keys and the map over to 20-something program directors, and letting them hit potholes, but keeping them out of the ditches. Building out and fortifying this cycle, of constantly bringing younger people in close, strengthens this little American institution. And while we look around in 2020 and see a lot of weakness, I hope you can look at SMC and know we have a strong and sturdy foundation.
SMC: A thriving institution
We have the wisdom it takes to make strategic decisions combined with the undeniable energy of the youth. Following this recipe for over a decade has put us in a stronger position than ever. And mark my words: No pandemic and no election will bump us off the trail.
Thank you for your support and long live the backwoods trails.
Gabriel Howe is executive director for Siskiyou Mountain Club and makes sure all of his graduated interns are registered to vote
