Defining Moments Do Define Your Leadership Because Talent Will Never Be Enough!
There are things that have occurred in my lifetime that I choose to post on an annual basis. The air crash of Air Florida (January 13th 1982) is one of them. I am a Leadership Teacher and also a student of Leadership. A true leader must always be looking to improve and build upon that knowledge because quite clearly “Talent is Never Enough”. And it is for that reason and purpose that I re post this event for there are many of you out there who probably have never heard about this event. I ask that you read this post for the Leadership aspects and pointers that you will arrive at. You won’t be disappointed and your comments are welcome.
We all have days and we all have moments but know this, that hidden talent and treasure abounds in you and is waiting for the key moment to come forth. Your purpose that you have been placed here for knowing that one day the circumstances of life will empower the Coach to say to you to come off the bench and sidelines of Life and get in the game because the outcome depends on You! It is “being in the moment” where suddenly you realize what your “map of the world” comes to fruition. To realize that our talents and hidden talents may indeed require taking it to the supernatural. And who knew that on that day that you woke up, the calling would be called? That your Masterpiece of Life was being framed for others to take note of because that moment of time for you was NOW!
On any given day and in any given year you can be assured that it is the anniversary of something to be remembered. All too often, the only ones who remember are the ones who were impacted by the event in the first place. Such is the case regarding the crash of Air Florida Flight 90. On January 12th 1982, it was snowing in Washington DC. It really wasn’t that big of a snow storm by today’s standards but falling fast enough to cause accumulation on the wings of the plane. Top that off with the fact that the temperature dropped to 2 degrees F. The snow fall finally ended around 3pm that day and Air Florida was the first in line to take off but the pilot in his haste to get underway decided NOT to go through the de-icing process a 2nd time. Clearly his belief that all would be fine as it had so many other times lifted, prepared and directed his talents. The jet roared down the runway but struggled, as the giant beast, to gain speed and altitude. A mile away the pilot lost control of his aircraft as it stalled and plowed into and plunged over the 14th Street Bridge into the Potomac River. The jet quickly broke up and sunk but a few people managed to get out and were bobbing helplessly in the frigid cold water.
It was now at this point, while a helicopter had shown up trying to rescue the survivors that Lenny Skutnik (who was Lenny Skutnik? A person just like you or me who reacted to a situation) suddenly appeared and without concern for himself jumped in the water and began effecting a rescue. One of the survivors in the water, Arland Williams, a man of 50, could have immediately been saved by the helicopter but passed the harness to others several times rather than save himself. When the helicopter finally came back for him, he had gone under for the last time. A total of 78 people perished that day because talent was not enough.
So what has this got to do with Leadership you may be asking? Well in John Maxwell’s Book, “Talent Is Never Enough”, he goes on to explain that no matter how much talent you have, it requires Courage, Practice, Passion, Focus and Belief just to name a few, that hones and sharpens that talent. The Pilot who erred in his decision to make the take off without exacting safety procedures allowed his perceived talents to by pass common sense.Talent was clearly not enough on his part. I am sure that Lenny Skutnik did not wake up that morning and say, “Today, I am going to put my life on the line and rescue some people”. And the passenger who passed up rescue so that others could be rescued first, clearly not only believed that he would be rescued but focused with passion that he would. We all bring talent(s) to the table of life. But we must remember to practice, prepare, focus, believe and have passion and when the time comes for us to act, we must seize the initiative and be courageous. If you are serious about being a Leader, I wholeheartedly recommend your picking up a copy of this book because believe you me, Talent Is Not Enough!
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