Several years ago I had a privilege of taking my daughter on her first rollercoaster ride. As you can imagine it was quite a memorable experience for all involved. After taking the ride and enjoying that memory with her, I began to think about what leaders can learn from rollercoasters. Trust me! It will be worth the read.
The following are 5 Rollercoaster Leadership Lessons:
- You have to pay a price to ride the rollercoaster. Leaders, there is an upfront price you must pay to lead. In addition, you must continually keep paying a price if you wish to keep leading.
- There is always a long line to ride the rollercoaster. Leaders, don’t get too overconfident regarding your abilities. If you think the organization can’t live without you, remember there is always a long line of people who think they can do the job better than you and would like to have your seat.
- The learning curve is vertical. Rollercoasters always take you up a steep part of the track at the beginning of the ride to then gain speed going down. Leaders, in today’s world, the learning curve is a straight up because organizations want immediate results.
- The track has many ups and downs, hard turns, and is often bumpy. Leaders, I don’t have to tell you that leadership is not always easy. Take comfort, if the path were smooth and straight, there would not be a need for leaders.
- When the ride is over, you can wait to do it again! Wow, does that say it all for leaders or what?! As fast, bumpy, and out of control as things can seem to get, we wouldn’t trade it for anything.
The exhilaration of accomplishing an assignment with others, the terror, the screaming, the laughter, the raising of your hands, and the wind blowing in your face. It’s all part of rollercoasters and it’s all part of leadership. Would you rather do anything else?!
Also, it was a memory my daughter and I will never forget. Going back to the price that was paid, I have long forgotten how much I paid for us to ride the rollercoaster together. I’ll never forget, however, how much I received in return.
Leaders, what is a huge price you once paid that was worth every penny.
For additional leadership posts from Brian Dodd, click the following:
- 9 Lessons From The Oklahoma Sooners Historic Softball Team On Where True Joy Comes From In The Lives Of Leaders
- How To Coach Leaders Like Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sheryl Sandberg
- 3 Things Leaders Should Do When They Feel Pain, Exhaustion, And An Urge To Quit
My latest eBook is available for download. The Top 65 Leadership Quotes Of 2022 Part 1 is a resource every leader should have. Great quotes bring clarity and put into words who we intuitively feel as leaders. They give us wisdom and insights which advance the mission and vision of our organizations. This eBook includes thoughts and insights from leaders like Warren Buffett, Nick Saban, James Clear, Dawn Staley, Jurgen Klopp, Jerry Seinfeld, and even Ted Lasso. This resource will take you about 10 minutes to read but a lifetime to apply. You will want to stop and ponder the implications of each quote. Click HERE or on the image provided for immediate download!