I’ve been to Dollywood dozens of times, but last Wednesday was one of my best experiences. The reason? I put my oldest daughter Anna in charge. Instead of complaining about me, the rest of my seven children complained about my daughter. I was off the hook!
Not only did I not have to lead, Anna led really well. She handled the complaining better than I would have.
As I reflected on what she was doing, I realized that she was doing exactly what I aspire to do as a leader. Here’s what I saw her do.
First, she cared about and understood those she was leading. She works at Dollywood and received compensation tickets with her paycheck. When she had collected enough, she cared enough about her family to want to take them rather than a bunch of friends.
Second, she grasped intuitively that complaints and disagreement are part of the leadership process. When you have to take the interests of a variety of people into account, not everyone will be happy. This is just part of being a leader.
Third, she made decisions. She downloaded the Dollywood app and looked at the wait times for the various rides. She thought about what she wanted to do, what the family would want to do, and the time we had, and then she made decisions about it.
Fourth, she didn’t change her decisions based on the differing opinions of any of the individuals, however strong those opinions might be. She realized that she was the leader, and she needed to lead. So, she led.
Fifth, she wasn’t mean about it. She had to hold to her thoughts in the face of sometimes strong disagreement, but she didn’t lash out defensively. She just made her decision, kept going, and kept smiling. It was a joy to watch.
Here’s one example. When we walked by the Wild Eagle, the wait was 25 minutes. Several children wanted to ride it right then, but she knew from experience that the wait time would decrease. So, she made her decision to move onto another ride. There was grumbling, but it died down. Eventually, we made our way back to the Wild Eagle and got on in less than 5 minutes.
As a smart and sweet 15 year old oldest sister of six siblings, Anna seems to have grasped the essence of leadership. I think I can retire.
Yeah! Anna! You’re the best and you gave your Dad the blessing of “A Break!” What a neat BLOG, Wesley!
She is in a leadership family. Leadership sometimes is very grinding work, but rewarding in the end.
What a blessing to have a daughter like Anna! Your training is paying off. God bless all your wonderful children. You and Melinda are great parents. Best of all you are training them spiritually with Christian values. Love all of you. Grandma B.