I’m on a boat plane.
About a year and a half ago I graduated from a leadership program, at the University of Denver, called Public Safety Leadership Development. From what I understand, and I certainly could be wrong, (correct me if this is not true) the program was born from an understanding that there was a lack of leadership education in emergency services, in the wake of the Columbine Shooting. I walked out of a six day course and felt like a changed man, a changed man who had a healthy skepticism that six days of anything could change anyone. Of course, other than heroin and business class, cause either of those things impacts one’s life forever.
So, I walked out of this program, pretty happy about how I now understood what I didn’t know, which is a realization that is invaluable. This gift was given to me by a “retired ski bum” named Kerry Plemmons, who is “escaping mediocrity one day at a time.” If I just quoted him all the time it would be an exercise in synthesized juxtapositions bathed in wine. So, anyway, because of Kerry I now understood just how little I understood. Before you balk at this being a gift, it truly is. Consult my last post to see how many people live their entire lives in the dark about their true capability.
Back to the point, I now felt like a complete moron, which is an odd realization when you have recently accomplished one of your most lofty career goals – hey Brandon, you’re bad at this. As my employee and friend Diane says, “I hated you when you started here, you were terrible” (she’s kinda blunt, it’s a western thin, apparently). Once one understands their failure, it is quite humbling. This wasn’t the first time that I had had this opportunity, I am sure at least 23 girlfriends had been glad to point out how dense I was, but like many other situations, I steered away from the criticism, finding other people who were happy to ignore my faults. It seems like this is really a death spiral, and I think a lot of people slip further and further away from what they could be, as the deviance is normalized – step by step.
So, what now? What next? Well, I must say I am a lucky asshole. Part of my luck seems to be falling into wonderful situations, despite myself. For Example:
- My wife is certainly slumming it
- I was lucky enough to survive 15 years as a paramedic, fairly unscathed – which many are not able to do.
- I somehow walked (crawled) away from getting hit by a monster truck – seriously
- I’m the father of this amazing little kid that learned how to shake my hand. They were right, fatherhood is like having a really cool dog that learns to talk (and shake hands!!)
In line with this theme, Kerry Plemmons was nice enough to meet me for coffee, and he said “get an EMBA.” He may have said “get and EMBA, dummy.” That sounds more like him. Honestly I had to google the E, not really understanding the whole thing. Initially I thought, I’m not a businessman, why would I do this? But then I remembered those 6 days with Kerry, and their effect on me. Could this be the road from understanding my lack of capability to actual capability? Seemed like a decent idea, and I did have a huge pile of cash in my mattress for a rainy day, or private school degree, so what the hell.
Honestly, I imagined I would fail out within a month or two, or maybe vomit on the shoes of the person sitting next to me. I forgot what happens when you have the privilege of sitting in a room of fantastically intelligent people, participating in the learning process, while led by dynamic and engaging professors. Rising to the occasion is a pretty cool thing, it’s really a testament to a group’s ability to out perform an individual, and so far, I haven’t failed out.
I met an incredible group of people, who are as diverse as they are interesting and capable. We have spent the last year together, learning the science of leadership, finance and economics, strategy, marketing, and breakfast connoisseurship. I think I have developed lifelong friendships, but more importantly, I have been an individual who was made greater by a team. What a cool feeling.
There is a guy reading this post, over my shoulder, as I type it on a flight from Denver to Frankfurt – its OK man, I don’t care. In a few (7) hours I will be in Frankfurt, which is nowhere near my destination of Cape Town, South Africa. But someday I hope to eventually get there, with my cohort of EMBA students, and we will have the experience of a lifetime, while also operating at a greater capability than any of us are capable of individually.
I saw Kerry in the hall today, it’s been 18 months since I walked out of that training, “a changed man.” Well, Kerry, I am on the road to understanding what I now know I don’t know, thanks for the push and the gift of understanding.
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