Leaders Get Out of the Boat

In the bible is the story of Peter stepping out of the boat to walk on water.

It takes courage to get out of the boat. Leadership is a personal choice. Leaders step out of the boat and walk a different path because leaders think differently. A Leader’s actions will cause distractions and problems they must overcome if they want to accomplish their goals.

Case in point, I was the restaurant manager at the Ramada Inn Downtown in Tuscaloosa. The owner, Mr. E., gave me a choice. He told me I could become the General Manager of the Ramada Inn South today; or, I could wait a couple of months to be the General Manager of his new motel in Birmingham. I immediately told him I wanted to manage the new motel.

The offer to manage the motel Birmingham was not a surprise. For several months I was thinking about the Birmingham move and the learning experience it would give me. The surprise was the choice between an established motel and a new adventure. The choice might have been a distraction; but, I knew my objective. This made the decision easy and quick.

This Birmingham choice gave me a chance to start a new project from the ground up. To supervise the final stages of construction. To hire all the employees and managers. To line up all the vendors. To supervise the final setup of the motel rooms, restaurant, lounge, kitchen, and banquet rooms. To create a new operation, a new boat.

My choice was very different than the Tuscaloosa motel choice. I was the auditor and restaurant manager at the Ramada Inn South prior to my current job. I knew the employees and managers at the Ramada South. I could just show up and just take the responsibility. All the players were in place. I knew the customers and the operation. This choice was not getting out of the boat it was getting back into a boat I knew.

My choice to get out of the boat, to create a new boat was a good choice. The opening of the new motel was hectic, nasty, busy, and frustrating.

One Friday I came home early. I told Emily not to talk to me. I told her I was losing it. My mind and body was worn out. I went to bed. Monday I was back on the job. I had lost my concentration and focus. I was sinking. It took me the week-end to regain my spirit and my courage.

I made this choice in 1972. I came back to Tuscaloosa in 1999. Earl, the General Manager who took the other job in 1972, was still at the Ramada Inn South. I met Earl a few years later at a service station. He told me he was the manager of the service station. I asked what happened. He said, “Mr. E. sold the motel and I lost my job. “ This could have been me. 

This came form my "Be a Leader" course.