Last summer, we took a road trip from San Francisco, through Zion, Bryce, and on to Telluride, Colorado. While in Telluride, we took a fly fishing lesson from Marty at Telluride Fly Fishers. Marty was a great guide and very patient with this city girl! I had piled on several layers of clothes in anticipation of wide temperature swings in the Rockies.
What Executive Leaders Can Learn from Fly Fishing Tangles
By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Tue, Jan 22, 2013
Night of the Living Dead, VUCA, and Strangling Tangles
By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Mon, Nov 09, 2009
US Airways Captain Sullenberger, Leaders, and Strangling Tangles
By Marcia Ruben, PhD, PCC on Wed, Feb 11, 2009
On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 took off from New York's La Guardia Airport. By all accounts, this was a routine takeoff, like many that occur day in and day out. However, on this particular flight, something unexpected occurred that required leadership, quick thinking, and skill. The plane hit a flock of birds, disabling both engines. Captain Chesley Sullenberger III deftly guided the plane for a safe landing in the Hudson. All passengers survived. This miraculous story offers great insight for leaders who want to avoid catastrophes, or what I call Strangling Tangles. A Strangling Tangle is a complex business challenge, further complicated by messy human dynamics that leads to a precipitous drop in revenue or even business failure.