12/19/2025
Monkey Rock has this funny trick: until someone points it out, it’s just a rock. Then—suddenly—it’s a monkey staring out over Lake Tahoe, and you can’t unsee it.
That’s one of my favorite leadership metaphors. Most of the “real stuff” in organizations is like that—hidden in plain sight. The pattern in the data. The unspoken tension in a meeting. The early signal that customers are changing.
A simple perspective shift can reveal what was already there:
1. Try asking in your next 1:1: “What do you think I’m not seeing yet?”
2. Or in your next leadership meeting: “If this is the predictable result of our system, what is the system teaching us?”
When starting Move Mountains, I wanted to teach this kind of awareness through Mindful Leadership—because better leadership isn’t always about pushing harder; often it’s about seeing more clearly.
What’s a “Monkey Rock” in your world right now—something you suspect is there, but haven’t fully seen yet?