Rules and Exceptions

I was asked recently “what was one thing I think I did in 2020 that helped me keep growing in a year that so many people struggled?”

 I don’t think I am very different from many people this year.  All of us were hit with something that was out of our control. In addition to a pandemic, the country is going through how to handle the social injustices that have been revealed, and by the way, the United States is still in the throes of an election where people are dug in. Many speakers realized early this year; the speaking industry was dramatically affected, just like restaurants, bars, and many other industries. I also work extensively in the healthcare industry. The uncertainty that resides with hospitals that had to ramp up to face a pandemic and set aside more profitable business was devastating.

I’ve spoken and written about one practice I started in March was I committed to contact five people a day during the week to check-in and find out how they were doing and offer support. During these conversations, I learned a lot about how many people were affected and handling this extraordinary situation. I heard about the financial challenges people were having. I found out about the emotional jolts people faced. And unfortunately, I had a couple of friends who could not handle all the challenges and are no longer with us. 

As I heard these stories, I started to journal what I heard. I have been going back through these notes and see some consistent patterns. 

I noticed that when these challenges started to pick up momentum, many people didn’t have a game plan for how to handle the challenges life hits us with. I speak about one of the critical lessons I first heard from my mentor Bill and later from my current mentor Don is “process saves lives.” It may not be your physical life (as it was that day on the Hudson River for me), but it may be your financial life, your relationship life, or spiritual life. Many of the people I have spoken to told me they didn’t know how they would handle their situation; they had no process. And many of these people were younger people who had never faced anything like what is going on in the world right now. 

I also noticed many people who are struggling are focused on needing to be right when they deal with other people instead of doing the right thing by others. I, too, had struggled with that in my younger years, but during my experience of the Miracle on the Hudson, I learned that a part of personal leadership is knowing that sometimes you don’t have all the right answers. Others may have a better skill set to handle a specific situation than you do. Sometimes you have to check your ego at the exit door and let someone else lead to getting the result you desire.  Once again, a trend I saw when I looked at my notes was many of the younger people, I spoke to struggled with this. Many told me that they didn’t want to look weak. But one significant thing I learned and now practice as a part of personal leadership is the ability to be vulnerable and open up and step up and let others lead when I know they can do a better job than I can. Do the right thing instead of having to be right.

I learned many things this year by speaking with so many people, but one consistent message I share with them is how I grew and continue to grow is knowing you have to be intentional about it. Focus on fulfilling your mission, not the expectations of others. 

One thing that became abundantly clear to me from my time with Bill, Tony, my current mentor Don, my experience during and after the Miracle on the Hudson  and has helped me be intentional about growth is:

A young person knows the rules, but an older person knows the exceptions, and knowing the exceptions is the key to accelerating your growth. 

And one way to do that is to have someone in your life who can help you understand and discern those exceptions.

My team’s focus on 2021 will be to help others understand and discern these “exceptions” and share strategies and lessons on how to grow through and out of these traumatic life experiences we all face. I have a unique experience to learn from someone who grew through and out of the Great Depression and from someone who is a world-known expert on strategies, from someone who has written about and has become an authority on how to build the “Perfect Plan” for growing your life and personally experiencing and growing from a traumatic experience, a plane crash.

How will you to turn the TURMOIL of 2020 into your TRIUMPH in 2021?

Every day, equip yourself with focused execution, empower yourself with resourcefulness, and transform yourself with gratitude so you can be the inspired leader and servant leader, ready to serve others first.

LEAD YOURSELF FIRST and CREATE YOUR FLIGHT PLAN FOR YOUR FUTURE!

 Dave Sanderson is the President of his firm, Dave Sanderson Speaks International, based out of Charlotte, NC. On January 15, 2009, Dave was one of the last passengers off the plane that crashed into the Hudson River, best known as The Miracle on the Hudson, considered the most successful ditching in aviation history. He has built a career as a motivational speaker, mentor, and author. Recently named one of the top 100 Leadership Speakers in Inc.com. Dave averages over 80 speeches a year for major corporations worldwide.