Let me start by saying that I'm not much of a TV watcher, I'd rather play video games. However that activity has taken a back seat in recent years in order to accommodate my various volunteer activities and lately trying to build an online business.
So believe me, when I say that for me to plan, make, and otherwise reserve time to ensure I watch a TV show, it's a big deal. For me that show is The Amazing Race (TAR).
If you've never watched it (I highly recommend you do) you are in for quite a ride. It is a reality show the likes of which I've not seen before. Sure I watched Survivor in the early years, but mostly because I participated in a Survivor fantasy league with co-workers.
Survivor was decent but for being a reality show, I always thought it lacked, well reality. I mean really, who gets stuck on an island with strangers, no food, and has to vote people off each week?
The Amazing Race, however, has a much more realism. If doubt this, ask anyone who has traveled overseas.
Ok, I admit that when you travel overseas you are not typically up against a clock or racing against others for a million dollars, but you can and do experience difficulties with the language, the culture, directions and the steering wheel being on the wrong side of the car.
While there is gameplay during the show it does not usually stoop to the same level of deceit that is on display during an hour of Survivor.
TAR tests the participants patience, resolve and character in a way that is realer that you may want to admit. Contestants have to confront things about themselves like deep seeded fears, testing their limits and maybe even take a leap of faith during the show.
All of which they may never have discovered they could do otherwise. The show while clearly entertaining also teaches us, if you pay close attention, some very valuable leadership and life lessons.
THREE LEADERSHIP / LIFE LESSONS FROM THE AMAZING RACE
NEVER GIVE UP
Every team faces this lesson at some point throughout the season. Some teams get there sooner than others. No doubt, the show puts its contestants under extreme stress.
When put in this pressure cooker, contestants quickly realize that they have only two choices, quit or persevere. Some will cave under the pressure, others will dig deep and find a way to overcome.
The contestants I admire the most are those who overcome a personal fear, injury or disability and those that reach the brink emotionally yet somehow manage to find a way to focus and move forward.
The show will truly test your limits as a contestant and a human being. But in those vulnerable moments that happen each week, that is when you see true character shine. It’s also where personal breakthroughs can and do happen.
These moments bring great lessons for leaders as well. At some point in your life or work career, you will meet seemly insurmountable obstacles and challenges.
When you do, what will you do? Work stresses we encounter include; the boss needs an answer tomorrow, will you hit your project deadline or your customer just threatened to pull all of their business. How do you react? Do you panic and delay or do you seize the opportunity?
One thing is certain. If you give up, you will never see what is on the other side; you will never cross the finish line. You most certainly will not reach that potential life changing point that could alter your career.
TAR’s host Phil Koeghan knows this lesson best having watched countless contestants struggle through personal and physical adversity. He captures these life changing moments in his book, No Opportunity Wasted (affiliate link).
On TAR this lesson is critically important because you never know what difficulties or personal challenges the other teams are facing. You only know where you are and what your situation is. If you give up, you will surely lose. If you push on…you just might make it.
THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER WAY
Once you've decided to never give up, you need to collect yourself and think about how to accomplish the task at hand. If you've tried it one way a few times and it’s not working, do you keep trying to do it the same way?
On TAR you see this weekly where one team member does not want to listen to the other. Sometimes the cause is stress, lack of sleep or a combination of both. Other times it's just plain ego taking over.
I've seen businesses struggle with this very issue. In an effort to improvement they will throw money and resources at a challenge in an attempt to move the needle, often times they will do this over and over again. Then they will sit back and wonder why things aren't getting better.
Have you ever heard this, “that's the way we've always don it”, or “we tried that a few years ago and it didn't work”. Both should be indicators that a different strategy is in order. Refusal to change direction or listen to the alternatives can usually be traced directly to someone’s ego.
Despite the fact that we all know that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
When things get tough, as difficult as it will be, pause for a moment. Take a minute and look around. Analyze the situation. Is there another way to accomplish the task? What options are available to you?
Will you let your ego cause you to not see the obvious or a better way even if it was not your idea? Will you stop doing what isn't working and try something new?
While we don't have one in life, on The Amazing Race you can earn an express pass that allows you to skip the current task and move forward. How nice would that be if in life we could an Express Pass?
I will tell that just like in the Amazing Race, we do get Express Passes in life. They are presented to us by our team members in the form of alternative ideas and innovations. However, in order for these life Express Passes to work just like on the show you have to use them. Don't let your ego force you to hold the express pass that your team gives you.
Don't ignore an idea or turn your head on an alternative solution if all else isn't working. Use the express provided by your team. Don't leave the game holding an express pass, use it!
KARMA IS A B*TCH
The contestants on TAR are mostly friendly with each other but alliances do form and contestants will help those they like and may choose to not help those they don't. In nearly all cases they remain civil.
However, what I have noticed in nearly every season is that contestants that treat others poorly or just plain bad, are typically not in the race for long. Why, because Karma comes full circle and pays them back.
From a leadership standpoint, this one translates directly into treating your employees right. We would be kidding ourselves to not admit that alliances form in the corporate world.
Sometimes these alliances will be good for the company, other times they may only be good for those in the alliance. When that happens, everyone knows it and it will eventually catch up to those who formed it.
A simple way to sum this lesson up is the application of the golden rule, treat others as you would want to be treated. I've always said be careful whose shoes you step on today because they might end up on the foot that's kicking your ass tomorrow. Don't mess with karma, payback can be a bitch.
Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.
QUESTION:
So I gotta know, do watch TAR? If so, what are your thoughts?
