JUMP OFF THE BUILDING AND GROW YOUR WINGS ON YOUR WAY DOWN.
The best advice I ever received was at the annual meeting of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials (COMTO) in Atlanta. These words, uttered by Les Brown, the world-renowned motivational speaker and author, eventually became one critical phrase that ignited and fueled hidden desires that catapulted me from middle management to Chief Executive Officer. “JUMP OFF THE BUILDINGAND GROW YOUR WINGS ON YOUR WAY DOWN.”
I still vividly remember Mr. Brown asking all meeting attendees to stand and recite this simply phrase. Simple words, simple concept, but it stuck with me like a bad commercial jingle. As I pondered the true meaning of the phrase, it became apparent that he was speaking about overcoming fears and remaining poised to jump on opportunities. Be it fear of failing, heights, public speaking etc., I began to realize that the reason we sometimes fail to achieve our stated goal is because we are ill prepared, fearful, or we make excuses to forego opportunities. Therefore, rather than pursue our desired vision, we often opt for the tried, safe and predictable route.
However, the catastrophic result of crashing with no wings was not lost to me either. I imagined what the scene would look like if I were unable to grow my wings. Who would be there to pick up the pieces; would there even be enough pieces to pick up? There was this saying that circulated during the Nigerian civil war. “To survive behind enemy lines, you have two choices; sneak through the war zone to the other side to find food, or play it safe, stay on your side and die of starvation. “One choice has opportunities for survival, while the other is guaranteed slow death.
A friend of mine once told me that there are three kinds of stresses. No stress which leads to inertia, too much stress which causes paralysis, and moderate stress which stokes your creative juices. I began to equate Les Brown’s simply phrase with creating moderate stresses in pursuit of my vision and being prepared to take advantage of life’s opportunities. Over the years, the value of this approach has earned me a wealth of experiences and feathers for my wings as I overcome challenges.
I am able to have tremendous confidence in my ability to develop appropriate solutions to most unique challenges. As the Special Projects Administrator for C-TRAN in Vancouver, Washington, my role was solving complex challenges that others were unwilling to undertake, and I was able to do it with ease. Why then was it difficult for me to actualize my vision of leading an organization? Fear! While I was successful at what I did at the time, it was a familiar and tested environment. To be true to my vision, I needed to step out of my comfort zone and change the way I viewed life’s opportunities. I needed to “jump off the building and grow my wings on my way down.”
With this view, I was determined to overcome the obstacles that were separating me from vision of leading a transit system. The first obstacle was overcoming my fear of “stepping off the building.” When I was offered the opportunity to take over leadership of Stark Area Regional Transit Authority (SARTA), I knew very little of the agency and even less of the Stark County community. However, I was ready to take on this new challenge. Even as my review, after three months, revealed mounting challenges within and outside the organization, it did little to dampen my enthusiasm for the job. Rather than worry about potential downsides to my decision to relocate and take on this demanding task, I focused on solutions to these challenges and the opportunities they might create for the agency. As a matter of fact, it was too late; I already jumped off the building and needed to grow my wings on my way down. I had no time to waste. I quickly focused my resources to creating a better SARTA that would serve the community better by providing not only excellent transportation services, but by becoming a catalyst for economic development. It was this mindset, commitment, knowledge of the industry, organizational skills and creativity, coupled with an excellent support staff, that SARTA was able to transform itself from an agency tethering on the brink of extinction in 2000 to the Most Outstanding Public Transit System of the year in 2006.
Another challenge was passing our operating levy. It was imperative that we pass this levy or SARTA would cease to operate by November 2002. I had no previous levy knowledge and had never run campaigns prior to coming to SARTA. Nevertheless, we went ahead and mounted one heck of a campaign. And for a bunch of individuals who knew very little about levy campaigns, passing this levy by a 2:1 margin was commendable achievement.
This phrase impacted my life in other ways. It changed the way I relate to others, especially my staff. I became more patient with my staff and allowed them to take some risks, even though I had a good view of the end result. My thought was that if they succeed, it will be all to their credit and they can celebrate, however, if they fail, I will provide the best support while helping them decipher what went wrong. This is what growth is all about. My vision of creating the most effective transit system in the nation depended upon strengthening our weakest link(s). To that end, all employees were allowed to be a part of the decision making for the organization. If they failed, they would be allowed to graciously learn from their mistakes. In fact, it has not been uncommon for me to push them off the building and watch them grow their wings on their way down. I remember informing all departments leads that they would be in charge of developing their own budget for each year. Most of these individuals had no clue where to begin, however, they knew that they had to develop and submit a budget if they wanted funds to operate the next year. Suffice to say that all departments were funded. For most, the journey on the way down represents their most fulfilling and enriching growth of wings. It is amazing how solution to challenges suddenly become apparent following failed projects (lessons learned) and how much wiser we all become after the experience. That lesson they do not teach in graduate school.
My family life did not escape the influence of this phenomenal phrase either. As most protective fathers already know, we want the best for our kids and we know exactly what it is. To be consistent, I began to shed my fatherly protective coating, allowing my kids to make some of their own decisions and learn from there mistakes. For those few cases that I can clearly predict disaster, I sometimes let them scrape their knees… but let me warn you, it is gut wrenching. But jump they must, and grow their wings, because I cannot be there for them all the time. With close associates, I have become supportive of most endeavors. To most of them I would say “Take that chance. If you could think it, you can achieve it. The worst that could happen is self-discovery.”
“JUMP OFF THE BUILDING AND GROW YOUR WINGS ON YOUR WAY DOWN” has become my mantra. I need not wait until all the information is in to take a chance. For new endeavors, expecting to know every outcome is simply a ploy to derail the idea from coming into fruition, therefore, I no loner subscribe to that notion. For me it is full steam ahead, taking “informed risks” and venturing into unfamiliar territories. For any leaders out there, who is still in doubt that this is the right thing to do, please do me a favor. Jump off that building and grow your wings on your way down. I promise you will never regret the experience. (from an old article I published for the Northeast Municipal Magazine)
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