*California Conservation Corpsmembers work as a team to carry a 700-lb stringer.*

It is a strange and tenuous time to be a trail worker. As I write this, the Trump administration has frozen hiring of permanent jobs, cut funding to land management agencies, disbanded AmeriCorps programs, yanked federal grants, and suggested that mass layoffs may come at any moment. Even folks in the private sector are feeling the squeeze, as short-staffing slows project approvals and contract negotiations for crews working on public land.

Now more than ever, crew leaders need to step up to hold it all together. As a trail crew leader myself, I’m constantly thinking about how to do my job better, and how to prepare my crew members to be leaders, as well.

My leadership experience in Trails began in 2015, when I was thrust into a team leader position with the now-disbanded AmeriCorps program called National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC). NCCC was not a conservation program per se, but as a member I led a special crew that partnered with the Bureau of Land Management, and was assigned to work all over the state of California. We spent most of our service term cutting new trail, pulling invasives, and improving campgrounds. I had essentially zero field experience going into it. I still cringe at many of the decisions I made during that time. There’s a saying that “good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement.” I got a lot of “experience” during those 11 months.

Since 2020, I’ve essentially worked year-round as a trail crew leader; I’m currently in my tenth season of trail work and my eighth in some sort of leadership role. And I’d like to think I’ve learned a thing or two traveling around the country interviewing trail workers for Trail Crew Stories. I still feel the queasy uncertainty of imposter syndrome, and drafting this sort of piece feels a little cocksure. Please voice any disagreements or additions in the comment section.

The title of this piece is an unsubtle reference to Stephen Covey’s famous self-help book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. While people are, I think, justifiably skeptical of the self-help genre, there is a reason The Seven Habits has endured in the zeitgeist for nearly 40 years. Rather than touting “life hacks,” the original Seven Habits are simple, intuitive, and echo diverse religious and philosophical principles that have persisted for millennia. This essay is an addendum to Covey’s principles, not a replacement of them.

So here you go: Seven Habits that I think anyone on a trail crew—or any field-based team for that matter—should think about when they head into the field.

Habit #1: The Crew Comes First.

Trail work is everything to me, but I’ll also be the first to tell you it’s not that important. Sure, access to the outdoors is good for our physical and psychological wellbeing, but any single trail project is just not that essential. A trail being closed for another couple of days won’t ruin anyone’s life—or even their week, for that matter.

What is much more important is your relationship with your crew. Your crew will remember the way you treated them for far longer than they remember how that wall or bridge or drain turned out. Be compassionate, supportive, and fair. Manage your emotions and apologize when you mess up. Trails will always be a dangerous job, but control as many variables as you can to make the work as safe as possible. We’re building trails, not pulling babies out of burning buildings. There is no trail in the world worth dying for.

Don’t have the right tool for the job? Go get the right tool so nobody gets hurt. Does anyone have a chronic injury? Give them some extra time to stretch on the clock. Did someone get some tough personal news? Let them go on a walk to process. Respect break times and make them consistent. Do not move or shorten a lunch break unless there is a seriously compelling logistical or safety reason to do so.

Recognize that few people turn Trails into a lifelong career, and that the real benefit of a Trails experience is not in technical skills, but in the soft skills of leadership, communication, and the humility that comes from being part of a larger mission. Cultivate these, and the hard skills will follow.

“The Crew Comes First” does not mean holding hands and singing “kumbaya” all day long. Support your people when they need it, but don’t coddle them. As a crew lead, your job is to guide people towards excellence, and that can only be achieved through actual work being done. Which brings us to Habit #2.

*You can take the work seriously without taking yourself seriously.*

Habit #2: Be Productive.

Many new leaders fear that if they push the crew too hard, the crew will resent them. So they overcorrect by setting low expectations, stretching out break times, and ‌avoiding telling the crew what to do. But recognize this: productivity is good for morale. People join trail crews to get work done, challenge themselves, and feel pride in their work. Give them that opportunity. The shallow pleasure that comes from an easy workday does not compare to the deep satisfaction that comes from a job well done.

Delegate, delegate, delegate. If you can explain how to do a task in 30 seconds or fewer, delegate it to someone else. As a leader, your job is to see the big picture, not to get wrapped up in simple tasks.

Don’t give people busywork. That is not productive. Busywork might include brushing a trail that doesn’t need it; digging drains that are working fine; doing work by hand when it could be done quicker with machinery; and building unnecessary structures. Don’t give someone all day to do something that will take an hour or two. Keep a list of tasks that are project-critical on hand so you can delegate them when people are standing around. These backburner tasks might include prepping materials for the next phase of a project; tool maintenance and repair; and site cleanup and demobilization.

Beware the individual who may try to exploit the goodwill you cultivate in Habit #1, “The Crew Comes First.” This is most prevalent in entry-level crews and Corps, where someone doesn’t actually want to be there, and they will come up with any excuse to get out of work. They might have even been Shanghai’d into the program by their family. Be fair but stern with these types. Do not let them drain all of your energy that could otherwise be spent supporting members who actually want to be there.

Balancing Habits #1 and #2 is a delicate art that can come easily with some crews, and can be much more difficult with others. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.

*Being productive and efficient makes the day fly by.*

Habit #3: Work Smarter, Not Harder.

Always be thinking: “Is there an easier way to do this?” Reduce the toll on your body by using levers, rigging, wedges, and other simple machines.

Ask for help when you need it and work as a team. Don’t give yourself a hernia because you’re too afraid to get help with something.

When you’re already underway on a project, it can feel disruptive to change techniques, even if it's an obvious time saver. This is an example of status quo bias, a cognitive bias that often leads people to continue what they’ve already been doing, even if they know it’s not effective. Good leaders are aware of this bias and know the value of overriding it.

Avoid “double work”. Don’t move the same rock twice. Digging a hole and making a pile of dirt? Think carefully about where you’re going to pile that dirt so it’s out of everyone’s way, including your own. Otherwise, you may end up moving the same pile of dirt more than once. The adage of “measure twice, cut once” applies to any physical effort: “use your brain twice, and your muscles once.”

*Do the math before you jump into something.*

Habit #4: Learn the Why.

Trail work is all about adapting basic principles to very specific landscapes and conditions. No two trails are identical, so every trail is going to require a unique combination of features to manage both water and people. Once you break ground, you might discover something that forces you to change plans, such as a boulder, a seep, or an archaeological site. Chaos in the natural environment—floods, avalanches, trees falling, etc.—adds even more unpredictability.

Instead of just memorizing steps, the best crew leaders understand why so they can make informed decisions on the fly.

Years ago, I was a crew member on a project to restore a heavily eroded trail by installing dozens of checks in the trail and then burying them (a treatment also called “subsurface stabilization timbers”). Installed perpendicular to the direction of travel, the timbers hold the trail in place and act as stairs once the dirt eventually erodes away. The crew leader directed us to set them at fixed rises and runs from one another, a figure that they had calculated weeks earlier. But what we should have done was periodically step back and evaluate the changing grade of the slope and the finished height of the trail. The result was that about a dozen of the buried timbers were too low, and the foreman had us pry them out and re-install them, costing us days of progress. Instead of considering the basic principles and goals of the project (the why), we mired ourselves in old assumptions and obsolete calculations. Lesson learned.

Dwight Eisenhower said, “Plans are useless, but planning is essential.” Plans will pretty much always change, especially in the chaotic environment of Trails. Leaders who understand the why of a project can make informed decisions to keep things on track.

Do not, for the love of God, justify a task by saying, “We’ve always done it this way.” That is not a logical explanation. History abounds with people doing stupid things for a long time, from bloodletting to using lead-based paint. Just because you’ve done something stupid for a while doesn’t make it any less stupid. “We’ve always done it this way” is a non-answer that is demoralizing and discourages feedback. If you can’t explain why you’re doing something, maybe reconsider doing it at all.

*This kind of rock armoring by California State Parks is very labor intensive. The crew carefully considered seasonal water flows (“the why”) before tackling the build.*

Habit #5: Be a Capable Teacher and a Willing Student.

If you’re going to be a crew lead, you must have both the technical skills to make informed decisions and also the ability to teach. A very skilled worker who can’t teach won’t be a good leader, regardless of their technical competence.

Good teachers are patient. If someone on your crew makes a mistake, consider how you could have communicated the instructions more clearly to prevent it.

There’s an old saying that “if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.” If you’re not learning things from the people on your crew, either you’re terribly overqualified for your job, you have a recruitment problem, or your own ego is blinding you to your own shortcomings. Be willing to learn from your crew and be receptive to their ideas.

Some leaders think their authority derives from having the answers to everything and having the last word on any decision. They will, in a knee-jerk reaction, rebut every idea that comes from a lower-level worker because they think this will reinforce the hierarchy. Do not be one of these supervisors. You will be perceived as stubborn and insecure.

Just because you’re a higher pay grade doesn’t mean you should have all the answers. You should have most of the answers, but nobody knows everything. Often, a trail crew includes people who have worked in many places, and the crew may have ideas they learned from another program that may offer a novel solution. If somebody shares an idea, consider it thoughtfully. If their idea won’t work, explain why. Always thank them for putting an idea out there, even if you don’t use it. Cultivate a safe space for feedback.

*The author teaches Mile High Youth Corps some knot work. Photo by* *Rob Hoff.*

Habit #6: Learn the Land, and Love It.

Trails is a place-based science. We cannot separate a trail from the landscape that it traverses, so knowing local ecology and land history is essential. What is the soil type and how does it handle water? What are the seasonal weather patterns? Which plants are native and which are invasive? What is the indigenous history of the land? What is the post-colonial history of the land? How have different regimes transformed the land over time?

For ‌seasonal trail workers who are bouncing between different parks and ecosystems, it is imperative that they learn the local landscape. A good crew leader helps them do that. Always be seeking to enrich a trail project with ecological context. Download apps such as Seek and Merlin to identify plants and animals. Maybe even keep a field guide and binoculars in your backpack. Learn new things together with your crew (Habit #5: Be a Willing Student!).

Find opportunities to collaborate with natural resources crews. In an era of short-staffing and mass layoffs, it is imperative that crews working in different departments understand each other’s needs and methods. More than ever, we need to work together.

Hike and bike trails you work on in your free time. It’s easier to put yourself in the mind of a visitor when you’re out of uniform and off the clock. Just as a chef needs to love eating to make great food, a trailbuilder needs to love using trails to be a great trailbuilder.

Above all, love the land. Trail builders are land stewards, and a good trail should protect the landscape, not destroy it. Trail workers are gatekeepers, tasked with the dual responsibility of protecting the landscape and providing access. It’s easy to get frustrated with “the public,” especially in the face of inane comments from passersby, such as “When are you putting in the escalator?” But the vast majority of visitors want to visit respectfully. A trail is an invitation to these folks to love the land, as well.

*Native re-planting after a trail construction project.*

Habit #7: Sharpen the Saw.

This is also the seventh and final habit from the original “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” by Stephen Covey, and it is both literally and metaphorically relevant for trail workers. The title of this habit is a reference to this allegory:

Imagine you are going for a walk in the forest when you come upon a man sawing down a tree.

“What are you doing?” you ask. “I’m sawing down a tree,” he says.

“How long have you been at it?” You ask.

“Two or three hours so far,” he says, sweat dripping from his chin.

“Your saw looks dull,” you say. “Why don’t you take a break and sharpen it?”

“I can’t. I’m too busy sawing,” is his reply.

There is, of course, the obvious lesson here of keeping your tools sharp and clean. Stopping to sharpen a tool saves time. Continuing to pull on a dull saw is a great example of the “status quo bias” mentioned in Habit #3.

Our bodies and minds are the ultimate tools, and we need to take care of them as well. That means physical conditioning, sleeping well, and eating healthful foods. The rigors of trail work—especially backcountry trail work—take a devastating toll on the body. Preventing long-term damage takes constant maintenance.

I’ve met a lot of trail workers over the years, and a common pattern I’ve found is that the people who have been doing it the longest are usually the people who take care of themselves. They eat healthful meals, go to bed early, and spend the off-season conditioning their bodies. People who go to bed early and show up to work well-rested and present are typically the ones who get promoted.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Crew Leads