Today, I want to share a message with you that Paul Martinelli, the President of the John Maxwell Team, a group of coaches, trainers, and speakers mentored by renowned leadership expert John Maxwell, repeats again and again in his inspirational talks. And I have observed that the members of the John Maxwell Team (I am one too), especially the new ones, are widely embracing it. It’s also one of my favourite quotes.
Paul reminds us frequently that “sometimes you have to jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down”.
That’s a great metaphor that contains some valuable advice. The quote encourages us and makes us take the first step, that leap, and take that risk. Frequently, discomfort, fear, or a sense of perfection prevent us from making that all important first step. However, often, there is no perfect time for that jump.
It is also better and safer, if you jump as a result of your own decision before you get pushed off that cliff by someone else. Some people would even say that the biggest risk in today’s fast-paced world is not to take any risks.
When I heard that metaphor for the first time, I took some time to reflect about my own experiences in this regard. Let me share with you the two most significant ones that had a major impact on my career and my life.
Before I went to work abroad, I had joined a talent pool at our company in Germany whose members were supposed to undergo an eighteen months training and certification program. After having successfully completed the course, one after the other of us was offered an assignment abroad by our company.
A big decision for all of us. It is not easy to leave your family and your friends behind and to try to succeed in a completely different cultural environment abroad. I was offered a position in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as “Regional Manager Gulf States”. I took the risk, jumped off the cliff, and went for it. Retrospectively, I can say it was the beginning of a successful international career.
However, surprisingly, most of the participants in the course turned down our company’s offer to make a career abroad for reasons like fear, staying in the comfort zone etc. It was a bad situation for the company as well as for the participants. They were hired with the clear understanding and mutual agreement to go abroad after completing the course. Since they finally declined the offer , many of them were encouraged to leave the company.
One more occasion where I had to take a leap and build my wings on the way down, was when I was working as “General Manager” for a sales and marketing company, our subsidiary in Nigeria with about 25 employees.
We had one more company in Nigeria, a factory where our pharmaceutical products were manufactured by about 165 employees. This was in the nineties, and Nigeria was in a bad shape. Many multinational companies decided to pull out of Nigeria due to safety reasons and harsh living conditions for foreign staff as well as the fact that firms were not able to transfer any profits out of the country.
At that time, we had three Germans working in our two companies. Our Managing Director and our Finance Director (both very experienced) in the production company, and myself as General Manager in the sales and marketing company.
Our head office decided to pull out of Nigeria. One first measure was to reduce the number of German expatriates from three to one. The company offered me to stay behind, and to become the Managing Director.
Honestly, that was a surprise to me. I was only 31 years old at that time and didn’t really think that I was ready. So far, I had only experience in sales and marketing functions, and suddenly, I was supposed to run a rather big manufacturing company without having relevant experience in the finance, production, and human resources functions.
Nevertheless, I appreciated that our German head office had confidence in me. And I saw the chance to make significant progress in my career. So I jumped off the cliff and went for it. I had to build my wings on the way down, learning a lot about the new functions from my experienced Nigerian colleagues and through self-study.
Taking the risk rewarded me with one of my proudest achievements in my whole career. Three years after, we were able to complete the exit strategy of our head office and to sell our company, while at the same time being able to keep the jobs of all 165 employees. I was very proud about the fact that not a single job was lost.
So next time, when you are standing at a cliff, e.g. wanting to start a new task, a new project, taking a big career decision, or having to make a big decision in your private life, take the jump and build your wings on the way down. It’s all about learning. Never stop building your wings again and again.
