Flying Without a Net

CHAPTER TEN

Put It Behind You

NOW THAT WE’RE AWARE OF THE TRAPS that can keep us from changing, growing, and succeeding, what can we do about them? As it turns out, there’s a lot that can be done, but I’d like to demonstrate the prescriptive possibilities by way of Jeff Gardner, a character I created for an earlier book on leadership.¹ Jeff was the highly successful partner of a small consulting firm, and I ended the story in that book with him reflecting on all the tasks that confronted him as he prepared to land in Boston after a long transcontinental flight. Now let’s continue the story.

At the end of the flight Jeff felt that all his ruminations about his many pressures and responsibilities had left him more tired than rested. The complaints ...