He knew he was going too fast.  He also knew he would not make the corner…

He had been quadding with a group of friends in the mountains above Naramata.  He stopped to take care of something while the rest of the group headed down the trail.  He then set off at high speed to catch up to them.  Being a very experienced rider, he pinned it.

In fact, “pinning it” is how my friend tends to live and lead.  He is a successful entrepreneur largely due to his drive, willingness and ability to hit accelerator when necessary.  He knows how to lead at a high speed – like many entrepreneurs.

However, on this day he was not leading, he was quadding, and it was his speed that soon became his undoing.  As he raced into the corner it quickly dawned on him that his speed was unsustainable.  And, he did not have time to slow down to successfully navigate the corner.

While careening into the corner he felt the quad begin to tip.  If he stayed the course he was on he would role.  The weight of the quad could very well kill him as it repeatedly rolled on top of him.  So, he turned into the corner and pinned it.  In a nanosecond he calculated that his only hope was to accelerate in an attempt to lift the front end of the quad up and jump over, or through, the trees and debris on the other side of the trail.

It was the rock lurking behind the small tree that did him in.  His front left wheel smashed into the boulder catapulting him off the quad.  He flew through the air for estimates of 40-50 feet before crashing heavily onto a painful mass of rocks and tree roots.

He broke his neck, his back, and all the ribs on his left side where they attach to his spine.  He bruised his lung causing blood clots, and sustained various other contusions, lacerations and cracks that paled in comparison to his life threatening injuries.

Miraculously he was not paralyzed.

When I visited my friend in the hospital, though racked with pain, he was in amazing spirits actually asking me how I was doing.  After a brief chat he said,

“Dave, you have to write about this.  It needs to be called ‘Slow “the beep” down!’”

So, in honor of my courageous friend, here it is.

Great leaders, and entrepreneurial leaders in particular, know how to “pin it”.  They know how to accelerate.  They know how to hit the gas of the organization in order to move forward at speeds faster than the competition.  They know how to do more with less time.

Leaders tend to take on more than many would deem prudent.  They think “yes” first, “no” second.  They are “can do” people.  They don’t look at what is and ask “Why?”, they dream of what can be and declare, “Why not?!”.

Entrepreneurial leaders are gas pedal people.

My wife jokes about our relationship.  She says that I am the gas pedal and she is the brake.  I love it – we complement each other.  A vehicle with brakes but no gas pedal won’t go anywhere.  And a vehicle with a gas pedal but no brakes will crash.

In any leadership team we need gas pedal leaders and brake people.  And, I believe that great gas pedal leaders understand they need the input of brake pedal leaders to know when to slow down – and vice-versa.

Entrepreneurial leaders, and other gas pedal leaders, need to understand that our propensity is to “pin it”.  In light of that we need to realize the need to brake regularly.  We must be open to the input of brake pedal people in our lives and in our organizations to know when to slow down.

If you are a gas pedal you have to realize that your first response will be to accelerate, but that may not be the best decision.  You need to know when to slow down.  You need to know when to hit the brakes.

Because sometimes going slow is the best way for you to go fast.