Lessons from Swim

Summer swim is one of my favorite times of the year for the life skills it teaches the swimmers and lessons it reminds the adults.

Take, for instance, my rising freshman who decided to try a new pair of goggles that look like the ones the older high school swimmers wear instead of using the style he has worn for years and used to love. During his first race, they slipped down at his flip turn and he had to finish the rest of the 50yds without them. During his second race, the same thing happened, but he was committed to the style and refused to swap to his reliable “backup pair.” The following 3 races (make that a total of 5) were the same story - as a mother it was so hard to watch. In each race, he dropped time (even swimming blind) due to shear willpower, but I wonder what he could have done if he could have seen.

This story is about swimming, but it could easily be one about leadership. We all know (or maybe we have been) a leader who sees other teams doing something and decides their team should do it too, and then they fail recognize when it doesn’t work for them. They are so committed to the “new way” that they just keep swimming another race with their eyes closed instead of making a change to make the likelihood of success easier.

After those 5 races, my son finally decided to switch back and finished the season with goggles that stay on him, but he wasn’t happy about it. That’s okay, you don’t have to like being wrong…who does? Being a strong leader is about using data to drive your actions and being humble enough to take a step back and reset if you need to.

I’m proud of the maturity of my teenager to make the right decision for his success even it isn’t what the other swimmers are wearing.

I challenge you to use this story as the motivation to pause and evaluate if the processes your team has in place are helping them win or is it time for a change.

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Rites of Passage