GUIDE?

guide

n.

   a. One who shows the way by leading, directing, or advising.

   b. One who serves as a model for others, as in a course of conduct.

I tell people all of the time, "In life, you either are a guide or you are not."

Some folks gravitate towards teaching others, no matter what they are doing. That certainly has been the case for me, whether it was coaching wrestling, teaching students & residents, guiding patients, or guiding fly fishing adventures. One either lives to teach or they don't.

I was talking to a young man just getting into the guiding business a few weeks ago. It was a great conversation. He has all of the tools be be a great fishing guide.

Even if you are not a guide, stay with me...it matters to all of us in the end.

The young man was concerned about the actions he had observed in other guides. The first thing I told him was that you cannot control the actions of others. So spending time losing stomach acid over things you cannot control will only make you sick and not help the situation.

Most importantly, we discussed the role of servant leadership. The way to change the world is not to scream, yell, and bully others into your view. In fact, the way to change your world is to lead by example.

I told him we all make mistakes along the way, but what matters is that we pick ourselves up and get better tomorrow from today's failures.

A most important concept for a guide of any type to embrace is that it is NEVER our job to judge clients (or other guides for that matter). Clients come to us with a variety experience and backgrounds. Some have never picked-up a fly rod. Some have traveled the world. Some are just easy to be around. Some are difficult to spend a day with.

Whatever their experiences and attitudes, our job is not to judge them, but to guide them. Our job is to lead the way and find a way to lead them. Our job is to find common ground to reach them and relate to them so that they get out of the day what they need.

Our job is never to compare our experiences and worry about whether we could have caught more fish, handled fish better, or just had a better attitude in general. Our job is to gently lead.

One of the hardest notions to get past as a guide is that the client should meet our expectations. We have to enter every day with only one expectation and that is to meet the clients needs for the day. A client will likely never meet our expectations because they do not have our experience. Spending your day irritated because a client does not know everything you know should leave you considering a different vocation. In saying that, quite often it is important to be able to reset a client's expectations for the conditions of the day as well.

There is a joy in servant leadership. There is nothing better than watching a client start feeling the load of a fly rod and then begin moving line efficiently. It is so satisfying to share a moment with a client when they land that fish they have been after for years. Sharing in someone else's journey is simply satisfying.

As I shared these things with the young man, he said, "You should write this stuff down and share it." I hem and hawed around about it for awhile and decided to do so. While I hope it will help others refine their thoughts on guiding, I hope it will help fishermen in general.

One of the things I see on the water all of the time is fishermen judging other fishermen. We spend way too much time worrying how others fish and if we are better or could have caught "that" fish...when we should really just be enjoying the day. 

My encouragement for the day is live and let live on the stream. No one else on the stream needs to meet your expectations. If they fish a certain way, why do you care? Let them be. There are many ways to catch fish and they are all valid. If folks are doing something illegal, call the local authorities. Otherwise, take a deep breath and enjoy your time on the water. That time is far too limited to be irritated about how others fish or be worried about whether you are a better fisherman.

Now...LET'S GO FISHIN'!