A True Whale of a Story
Rick Rodriguez and three friends were on a three-week sailing trip in the Pacific Ocean. But on March 13, 2023 at 1:30 pm their 44-foot vessel Raindancer was struck by a large whale. The force of the blow was so strong that Rodriguez said in this article, “The back half of the boat lifted violently upward and to starboard.” The craft then began filling up with water.
Fortunately, each of the crews members were experienced mariners. Rodriguez placed a mayday call and also sent out an emergency beacon with the ship’s coordinates to a worldwide rescue network. Others gathered food, fresh water, emergency gear, and other supplies which were placed on a lifeboat. In fact, they had enough water for one week (along with a device which captured additional rainwater) and food for three weeks.
Rodriguez and the crew also had a phone and satellite wifi hotspot which they used to communicate with family members and the outside world.
Just hours later, the crew was rescued by Geoff Stone, who captained the 45-foot board Rolling Stones.
Rodriguez recounted, “I feel very lucky, and grateful, that we were rescued so quickly. We were in the right place at the right time to go down.”
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Real-Life Snakes on a Plane
This April 6, 2023 article tells the story of Rudolf Erasmus’s harrowing experience piloting a South African passenger plane when he was forced to make an emergency landing in the city of Welkom. This normal flight became a frightening experience when Erasmus felt something cold slide across the back of his leg.
Erasmus looked down and became alarmed when he saw the head of a Cape Cobra. After contacting air traffic control, he was forced to fly another 15 minutes with the deadly stowaway literally at his feet. Brian Emmenis, a local avaition expert, called fire and rescue along with snake handler Johan de Klerk to help.
After Erasmus and the passengers were safely off-boarded, Emmenis stated “He stayed calm and landed that aircraft with a deadly venomous Cape Cobra curled up underneath his seat.”
After disassembling the plane, the cobra was never found. They assumed it found its way off the plane after landing. Regardless, the engineering company which owned the plane needed it returned. Erasmus was forced to fly it back 90-minutes to the city of Mbombela all the time hoping the cobra truly did exit the craft.
Falling Trees at The Masters
On Friday, April 7, 2023 during the second round of the Masters golf tournament, three pine trees suddenly fell to the ground forcing the evacuation of the spectators. See the video below.
https://youtu.be/O_UCL_JzghA
Afterwards, Megan Hill told the USA Today in this article, “I was sitting, looking, waiting for the next group to come up to the tee and it fell maybe 8-10 chairs to our left. I stood up and screamed and thought, ‘Is it going to fall on me?’ It fell to the left of us and it was so scary.” Deshey Thomas added, “Pinecones were hitting us in the back, we turned around and looked up and heard a huge cracking noise and the tree basically crushed 10 chairs that were sitting there.”
Approximately 90 minutes after the incident, tournament officials announced gates to the course would reopen the following morning at 7:00 AM and play would resume one hour later.
4 Lessons for Leaders on Expecting the Unexpected
The following are four lessons for leaders on expecting the unexpected we can learn from these stories:
Prepare for the Unexpected
Life can change in an instant. I know few people whose life hasn’t been immediately altered by an unexpected phone call, knock on the door, or “The doctor wants to see you”, or “The boss wants to see you in their office”, or “Mom and dad, here is a note from the teacher.”
The lesson we learn from the crew of Raindancer is to prepare for the unexpected. A failure to plan is a plan to fail. They had water and food for weeks along with satellite phones, hotspots, and of course, a life raft.
As leaders, we must always have contingencies in place for unexpected events. We never know when we are going to get broadsided (whale), encounter unforeseen danger (cobra), or have things come crashing down around us (trees).
For more on the value of preparation and its benefits, check out my book Timeless: 10 Enduring Practices of Apex Leaders where I devote an entire chapter to the subject.
Stay Calm and Have Poise When the Unexpected Happens
What saved the life of Rudolf Erasmus and those on the plane he was piloting was his ability to remain calm in the presence of danger. The average person (which would include me) would probably have started screaming, kicking, and jumping out of the seat. The result would have likely been getting bitten, losing the capacity to pilot the aircraft, and then the plane itself subsequently crashing to the ground killing all onboard.
Erasmus’s behavior was simply astonishing. His story is a picture of what poise looks like. Without it, this story would have turned out completely differently. Without poise, our leadership may have a different outcome than we are hoping for as well.
For more on surviving animal attacks click Alaskan Man Survives Grizzly Attack (And 3 Leadership Lessons We Learn From It) and Bear Attacks Mountain Climber: 6 Lessons On Courage We Learn From It.
A Strong Foundation Helps Prevent the Unexpected
With heavy storms coming through the area, those three pine trees in August, Georgia simply did not have the root system required to keep the tree upright. As a result, they came crashing down putting dozens of people in harm’s way.
As leaders, your character is your foundation. If you don’t work on having strong character, eventually the heights of your leadership will take you to a place your root system (character) can no longer sustain you. You too will come crashing down and dramatically impact the lives of all those you influence.
Life Goes On Despite the Unexpected
Leadership is an oval track with no finish line. The crew of Raindancer still had to get to shore. The owners of the plane Rudolf Erasmus wanted it back. The Masters continued play the very next day.
The lesson here for leaders is to develop resilience because life goes on. We must pick ourselves and our teams up, dust ourselves off, learn from what just happened, and then move forward.
Conclusions
These three stories – a whale sinking a ship, a cobra on a plane, and falling trees at the Masters – teach us much about facing unexpected events as leaders. Prepare for the unexpected. Stay calm and have poise when it happens. Work on your character and build a strong foundation which will help you carry you through tough times. And life goes on.
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