3 Leadership Lessons from 10,000 feet skydive

It all began one evening when I was looking into my bucket list of “Things to do before I die”. Apparently skydiving was still on my list, among other things which I cannot really disclose them yet.

I was planning my trip to Chicago with the purpose of attending leadership master class organized by PMI (Project Management Institute). I thought why not skydive while I will visiting Chicago? I did my research and booked online with Skydive Chicago (www.skydivechicago.com). The site boasted magnificent views and thrilling experience of skydiving. 

The day had finally arrived. After signing endless pages of forms and watching a brief video, I was ready to skydive. There I met Chad, who was going to be my tandem. The first thing he told me that it’s going to be his first time as well. It was a relief when I realized he was joking, otherwise I wouldn’t have survived to write this article. Chad was a cool guy with a sense of humor. We were complete strangers, and yet I was about to trust him with my life. As we reached the altitude of 10,000 feet (around 3000 meters), Chad and I strapped closely together and nestled neatly by the door. I looked down the airplane and there was a magnificent view of the ground with rectangular patches of trees and brash colors of autumn. The next thing I remember I was flying like superman. It was the most exhilarating feeling, which could not be described. I was free like a bird, free from my daily stresses and worries, free from all hassles of life. When the parachute opened up, I felt this sudden bliss of peacefulness. It was unutterable moment of absolute silence and tranquility…

You may be asking what leadership lessons one might learn from skydiving. There are striking similarities between leadership and skydiving as both require courage, commitment and confidence. These are the 3 lessons I learned from skydiving:

1- Tenacity: Leaders need to be tenacious and persistent to their beliefs. I had planned skydiving for more than 6 months and I was very determined to do it. Tenacity makes leaders to persevere. I could have easily dropped the idea, but I was totally determined to do it, despite the fact that it has posed many risks. Genuine leaders are determined, persistent and risk takers. Nothing stands in their way to realize their vision and dream. This is the true making of a leader: determination with a vision.

2- Buoyancy: Leaders need to be cheerful, optimistic and buoyant. Skydiving is an extreme sports activity delivering thrilling experience. If you want to enjoy skydiving then be buoyant, forget about the involved risks, be optimistic and the most important have fun… True leaders no matter the level of criticisms they may receive, they remain optimistic, cheerful and stick to their beliefs. 

3- Self-assurance: Leaders need to be self-assured and dissipate high level of confidence. Skydiving requires self-assurance otherwise you simply not jump out of the airplane. Leaders need to be confident no matter how difficult or fearful is the situation. A true leader is the one who dares to challenge the status quo and not swayed by peer pressure. Self-assurance is the core part of a leader.

In conclusion I would like to state that in life there are many dangers and risks. Even driving back home from your work today poses great number risks. Some could be prevented, some could be bypassed and some should be simply accepted. Leaders need to make tough decisions to challenge everything, take risks, and share their vision of the future. Only brave leaders with a vision go to history and get immortalized, then again who remembers those leaders with no vision who simply played by the rules and didn’t dare to challenge it?

Watch the full experience of skydiving Skydiving Video