AGILE LEADERSHIP SURF CAMP | Agile Socks

A one-week transformational experience for people who want to more deeply embody agility and grow their capacity to lead more powerfully and authentically. 

Did you know that surfers spend less than 2% of their time actually riding waves?

This surprising fact holds powerful lessons for business leaders navigating today’s complex environment. Just as the ocean can’t be controlled, neither can market dynamics, team dynamics, or customer behavior. But we can learn to ride the waves of change with grace, purpose, and impact.

I believe there’s so much to learn about business agility and leadership in all areas of life from my own journey of becoming a surfer the past few years, so I developed these surf lessons.

1 – You’re not going to “think” your way into a wave.

We often think of leadership as something that happens from the neck up. However, our real power and brilliance as leaders lies in our ability to access our full body intelligence. Embodied awareness and embodied action are key. This is about being fully present and deepening our awareness so that we can sense and respond, which is essential to navigating the uncertainty, complexity, and rapid rate of change in our world.

Often, we can get stuck in our head, in reactive mode. This looks like making assumptions, spinning stories, and judging ourselves, others, or even circumstances. In order to make decisions with clarity and create the impact we desire, we need to be grounded, calm, and present.

2 – Purposeful practice makes progress.

In surfing, there are many micro-skills you need to be able to put together intuitively in the moment to catch a wave. Examples include paddling, sensing the energy of the waves, timing, position, your pop-up, and so much more.

This requires a lot of practice, and the practice needs to be intentional. When we are present and aware as we are practicing, we can sense, reflect, and learn from every aspect of our practice. Consider how distractions and overwhelm affect how we move through our workday.

Many of us have spent our careers learning new concepts, tools, skills. But knowing which of those to use in any given situation is more about how we intuitively understand them and can sense and respond in any given moment.

3 – We cannot measure success by how many waves we catch.

Traditional business metrics often mirror the misconception that success is measured by “wave count.” But true leadership requires us to have a range of perspectives when it comes to measures because we are dealing with many variables, most of which are beyond our control.

Leaders focus on outcomes over outputs. And how we show up in the process of navigating towards those outcomes matters (e.g. quality of engagement, how quickly we incorporate learning and new information). Learn more about measuring what matters and using experiments to navigate towards goals in uncertain conditions.

Ready to dive deeper? (pun intended)

Experience these lessons firsthand through my unique Agile Leadership Surf Camp in Costa Rica the week of April 5, 2025.

This is an immersive experience that will transform your approach to leadership, so you can:

• Naturally integrate experimentation, learning, and adaptation into everything you do.
• Connect to what really matters, envision new possibilities, and take aligned action to bring your vision to life.
• Navigate strong emotions, conflict, and challenging situations more effectively. And feel more ease and confidence in the process.

Columbus Chamber of Commerce members receive a $400 discount on this leadership experience.

Get the detail about Leadership Surf Camp here. 

Email stephanie@agilesocks.com to schedule your Discovery Call, and get all of your questions answered.

P.S. If Leadership Surf Camp isn’t for you, but you want more great leadership content and tips, sign up for my newsletter here.