Lessons Leaders Can Learn From an Extreme Daredevil

Aug31
2012 35 Comments Written by danonleadership

Gary Connery was the first person to skydive 2400 feet without a parachute and land safely.  Here is the story:

The entire flight of nearly a mile took less than a minute and was only given the green light because the weather conditions were “perfect”. Mr. Connery dropped for three seconds before reaching speeds of more than 80mph in a specially developed wing suit that “started to fly”. He landed on a strip measuring about 350ft (100m) by 45ft (15m) – and at its highest point 12ft off the ground.

In order to survive the audacious stunt, he had to flare his wing suit about 200ft from his target in order to bring his gliding speed down to 50mph and his vertical falling speed to 15mph. He landed to cheers from thousands of people who watched his feat and was met on the ground by his wife Vivienne, who gave him a kiss. He celebrated his achievement with champagne on the ground. (To read the entire article click here)

I found 5 lessons every leader can learn from this extreme daredevil:

1. Risk Takers- If you want to be successful and achieve great things it requires taking risks. This does not mean a leader should take uncalculated risks or walk blindly into the future. Gary “assessed the risks” and felt confident the risk was worth the potential outcome. Great leaders make it a point to get out of their comfort zone and take calculated risks.

2. Conquering fear- Gary said, “The fear comes before you get into the helicopter. You don’t get in before you have dealt with that.” This is interesting because it shows he dealt with the fear and unknown before he committed to the stunt. If he failed to do this beforehand then once he was on the plane he might have allowed the fear to conquer him and prevent him from jumping. This shows the importance of being inwardly prepared by dealing with fear before an opportunity.

3. A support team- To achieve great things requires having a strong support team who can encourage and support your dream. When Gary completed his stunt he gave credit to those have supported him by saying, “Thank you everyone involved for your support and belief in me because this really has been a team effort.” If you want to see your dreams become reality take time to build and have a people who support you. Make it a point to regularly thank and show gratitude to your support team. Kimanzi Constable recently wrote The Importance of a Good Support System when he said, “Support can be the difference between success and failure.” These are essential words a leader needs to know and remember.

4. Preparing- Gary has experience with 880 skydives and 450 base jumps. His experience prepared him for this extreme stunt. He said, “I have been training and planning for this record attempt for many years now and I am so proud to have achieved a world first.” This shows the importance of preparing yourself. If you consistently develop yourself your future will be bigger than your past.

5. Celebrate then plan for the future- Leader’s need to remember Success or Failure is Never Forever. Therefore a leader should celebrate a success or learn from a failure then move on. In a lot of cases success or failure has prevented a person from moving toward forward or toward potential success. Gary said, “Tonight will be all about celebrating with friends and family, tomorrow I will be plotting my next daring challenge.”

Question: How can you apply the lessons from a daredevil into your leadership?

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  • http://www.lifeofasteward.com Loren Pinilis

    I’m struck by your point on preparing. And the thing that came to my mind is how often that preparation is unintentional: so often we’re prepared for future leadership by God’s workings in our past.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Loren,

      I think intentional and unintentional preparing is important for future success. When Gary first started jumping he was preparing(unintentionally) for this big stunt. This shows as we are leading and managing we are also preparing for the future. Thank you for sharing bro!

  • Floyd Samons

    Great lesson and great point about the success and failure analysis. Neither one is a destination. Each one is just a stop for a visit in life. It’s the preparation and moving forward that dictates either one. Props to the daredevil!

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Great point Floyd, It’s a journey and not a destination. Thank you for sharing.

  • http://jonstolpe.com/ Jon Stolpe

    Wow! I always dreamed about flying someday, but I don’t think I could jump out of a plane at 2400 ft without a parachute (or even with a parachute). I love how confident he was that he would be able to survive this stunt. Preparation. Preparation. Preparation.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      I agree, I don’t think I would be able to make the jump(with or without a parachute). I believe his confidence does come from his experience and preparation. It shows the importance and power of being prepared.

      Thank you for reading and sharing Jon.

  • http://www.lincolnparks.com Lincoln Parks

    Dan, I went and immediately looked up this feat on youtube and actually saw it for myself. That was absolutely awesome. Did you hear what he said people thought of him. He said, “Most say that I am crazy, and that I should not do it”, and he responded by saying that because of that it means that he is doing something great that most can’t wrap their minds around so that’s all the validation he needs. WOW! It shows great Leadership when you can Conquer fear, take risks, and have a support system. You hit it on the head with this one bro, it takes all those elements. I can use those elements and infuse them into my business and team members.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Lincoln Parks,

      I watched and read several articles about him but did not catch that part. Thank you for mentioning it shows if others are saying to us “your crazy” shows we are moving in the right direction.

      Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

  • Susan

    Yikes! I never did understand why anyone would jump out of a perfectly good airplane or helecopter. But, I do admire the ambition of someone who is actually willing to do it. (that this fellow’s name is ‘Connery’ drew me in :) )
    To me, it is less about applying ‘daredevil’ tactics to life, and more about applying the ‘daredevil’ ambition. It may not seem very daring to go about a daily routine of work, but there are definately days when it takes a special kind of drive to do it. People who succeed are not afraid to step up and do what needs to be done, even when conditions are less than favorable.
    Great post Dan.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Susan,

      I know right, jumping out of a plane (with or without a parachute) to me is crazy. Great point about it being “about applying the daredevil ambitions.” I however think even the daredevil ambitions lead to a person doing something above average or daring to do something great. Thank you for stopping by to read and add to the discussion.

  • http://marleeward.com/ Marlee

    Hey Dan,
    I think this is an awesome story. What really struck me is that just because everyone is telling you you can’t do something doesn’t mean that you can rise above their words.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Marlee,

      I’m glad you enjoyed the story. I think “rising above their words” is so essential. It shows the importance of focusing our ears on God and what He is telling us and not others.

  • http://intentionaltoday.com/ Ngina Otiende

    Love this statement from Gary – “The fear comes before you get into the helicopter. You don’t get in before you have dealt with that.”. I know I won’t get far in life if I yield to fear. I need to conquer internally before I conquer externally. Great post!

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Ngina,

      That was one of my favorite statements of the entire article. It’s so powerful and true. Thank you for reading and sharing.

  • http://talesofwork.com/ kimanzi constable

    Number five is really where I need to be, I need to be more intentional about my future plans. It’s hard when all you want to do is run!

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Reading some of your past posts, it sounds like your working on this. By planning better:)

  • http://ericspeir.com/ Eric Speir

    I think one of the keys is preparing yourself. It’s hard to lead others, when we’re not prepared ourselves. We prepare ourselves by reading, studying and planning ahead.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Great point Eric. It’s about growing and preparing our self so we can lead better. Thank you for stopping by and sharing. I appreciate it.

  • http://www.jmlalonde.com Joe Lalonde

    That’s awesome Dan. Stunts like this always bring ideas for great adventures to my mind.

    Another lesson could be: Sometimes you just gotta jump into it.

    We can hem and haw all we want. When it comes down to it, what really matters is whether or not we take action.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      So true Joe. Action is essential. Thank you for reading and sharing.

  • http://www.revivallifestyle.com/ Daniel Vogler

    Awesome! I’ve actually always had a weird desire to face my fears.
    When I was afraid to speak in front of people I thought of the toughest speaking one can do.
    Then I went out to the market place and jumped up on a bench to hold a speech in front of hundreds of strangers. It went incredibly well and I actually got applause! Today I’m a conference speaker and just turned 24. had I not taken active, daring steps like that in many other areas in my life I wouldn’t be where I’m at today.
    Great list Dan! You always bring it ;)

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Daniel,
      What a great example of someone who did not allow fear to hold them back from their purpose. Thank you for sharing a part of your story. Thank you for stopping by and sharing.

      • http://www.revivallifestyle.com/ Daniel Vogler

        It’s my pleasure, Dan. Love everything you write. Almost feels like I don’t have to read any leadership books if just keep up with you posts ;)

        • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

          Thank you for reading and the complement. It means a lot. I’ll keep writing about leadership but I still recommend reading books on leadership:)

          • http://www.revivallifestyle.com/ Daniel Vogler

            haha if you say so…

  • http://www.jasonvana.com Jason Vana

    I’ve been challenged by the idea of preparing, and even moreso, of testing ideas to see if they will be successful before putting your time, energy and resources into launching them. It’s something I’ve been challenged with concerning Ignite. My heart is to go bold, start groups at a ton of campuses and grow huge. But I’m seeing that the smart thing to do is to get our system down, figure out what we need to sustain growth in the long run and THEN start expanding. The Board is working on that plan this year. Pretty excited for it.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Jason,

      It sounds like your on the right track about doing small things and finding out what works and what does not work, then to maximize those things that do work. I’ll be praying God leads you as you lead the ministry. Thank you for taking the time to read and share.

  • http://bekdavis.com/ Bek Davis

    “learn from a failure then move on.” I can’t stress this enough. Failure does not need to be a negative thing that we cannot get past. Failure allows for growth by allowing you to setup a system to ensure you don’t encounter that specific “failure” again. Great article!!

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Bek,

      First off thank you for taking the time to read and share. I hope reading my blog allows you to become a better person and leader.

      Great and true points. Many successful people have failed, learned from it, and moved forward to achieve great things. Learning and growing from a failure is so important for people to do, thank you for mentioning that.

  • http://dreamjobprogram.com/ Drew Tewell

    “Preparation is the separation between winning and losing.” (John Maxwell) Thanks for the insights, Dan!

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Great quote! Thank you for sharing it.

  • http://www.beyondthesinnersprayer.wordpress.com/ Barb

    Conquering fear is the hardest one for me – fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of making someone mad at me. I have to continually go to God to give it all up – be willing to do anything for Him. Whenever I do, though, He gives me peace and joy, which makes it easier to persevere.

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Barb,

      It’s a big struggle for myself as well and think it’s the same way with most people. It does help being connected and close to God. God is a powerful source of courage. Thank you for taking the time to read and share.

  • http://www.nathanmagnuson.com/ Nathan Magnuson

    Dan, I mentioned some of these same points in my post about Felix Baumgartner. I went skydiving last summer, does that count for anything?? http://www.nathanmagnuson.com/the-felix-baumgartner-guide-to-living-on-the-edge/

    • http://danblackonleadership.com/ Dan Black

      Nice, Heading over to read it! Thank you for reading and sharing a similar post:)