The Incline

A message from Kyle...

As we’ve shared recently in our blogs and through social media posts, we have a wall of images in our office that represent our teammates’ “Coins”. This display has become a great reminder for all of us of the depth of our full-time staff and our team of Expert Facilitators, and what we all value. 

In this week’s blog, our colleague and dear friend, Kyle Stark, gives us a glimpse into his values, and shares some of the currency beneath one of the images he chose.    

Kyle is the President of Stark Contrast, where he helps leaders build great cultures through alignment, selection, development, and execution across sports, business, and military environments. With more than 20 years of coaching and leadership experience, including 15+ years at the highest level of professional baseball with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Guardians, Kyle brings a unique and powerful perspective to leadership and culture. He also holds an MBA from St. Bonaventure University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Toledo.

We’re honored to have Kyle as part of our Game On Expert Facilitator team, and appreciate the consistency, counsel, and clarity he brings to every endeavor.

- Steve Shenbaum

“I’ve got a suckfest for you!”  Those words were music to my ears.  Some of our coaches with the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time proceeded to describe a hike they had done the previous day in Manitou Springs while we were in Denver playing the Rockies.  

Known as The Incline, the hike is described as an “extreme” hike up an old cog railway running up the side of the mountain.  The stats were impressive.  2,768 steps.  2,000 foot change in elevation in just under a mile of hiking.  Average grade of 45%, reaching 68% at its steepest point. 8,590 foot summit.  

Needless to say, it did not – and still does not – disappoint.  From sucking wind as you climb the parking lot to the start of the trail, to actually performing decent yet being passed by locals who climb the trail daily, to finding ways to add the hike to any trip to Colorado, The Incline has become one of my favorite Coins.

Coins are about connection – connection to self, others, and purpose. And The Incline checks off all three in spades. An intense physical challenge that tests your limits. An opportunity for solitude – deep reflection while all alone with your own thoughts. Engagement with your teammates or new friends immediately bonding over the shared struggle no matter how well they perform. Feeling so small in the vast wilderness of creation while appreciating the beauty and God’s creativity.

Ultimately, it represents the realities of our own journey, our pursuit, our struggle. While the world stresses the importance of getting to the mountain top, this life continues to remind me that we are really trying to be mountain climbers. It is about enduring hard – and the growth that it develops. It is about navigating the challenge of a false summit two-thirds of the way up the climb – and the mental toughness it creates.  It is about resisting the temptation to pull off for a shortcut – forging moral toughness along the way.

Yes, the destination matters. The views are amazing. The sense of accomplishment is tremendous.  However, we cannot stay there forever. Nothing grows on the mountain top. We need to take the 3-mile trail back down the mountain and find another mountain to climb. Or in this case, decide to tackle it again and again, continually testing ourselves, appreciating the moments of solitude, investing in the connection with others – those on our mission as well as those we cross paths with on their own mission, with the ultimate connection being with the One who made us.

Climb on.