About a year ago, I watched a very inspiring video. It was the 600-meter race of Heather Dorniden, now Heather Kampf. When I watched the video, I was amazed at the lessons that I gleaned, and I would like to share those lessons with you in this article, hoping that you will be inspired never to give up and to keep going even after a setback.
For those not familiar with Heather Dorniden, she is an American middle-distance runner. In 2008, Heather Dorniden, who at the time was a runner for the University of Minnesota, was leading the pack in the final heat of a 600-meter race when with about 200 meters of the race to go, she tripped and fell on her face. Many would have given up at this stage because the race was almost over, and the others who she had been ahead of, were now ahead of her. Quitters would have sighed and said, what’s the use? And then they would have proceeded to call for a pity party where they would have lamented the ill luck that caused them to trip and fall just at the time when they were ahead in the race. But Heather Dorniden is no quitter. Almost as quickly and as suddenly as she fell, she was back on her feet, running faster than before. It wasn’t long before she ran past all three competitors who had overtaken her, amid her crisis, and emerged the winner. When she reached the finish line, she said something so profound and thought-provoking. “That last 50 meters, I hit a gear that I never knew I had.” In rising to continue running, Heather Dorniden proved that success and failure are not measured by how you fall, but by how you pick yourself up.
Leadership Lessons from the Life of Heather Dorniden Kampf
- You cannot allow your body or your feelings to tell you what you can or cannot do. Where the mind goes, the body usually follows. When Heather Dorniden fell, I am certain that she felt pain, no doubt her body must have said to her, “Stay down, you can’t make it I am exhausted I am bruised, and I just want some rest.” But Heather obviously didn’t listen to her body, she continued running and according to her, hit a gear she never knew she had. Her mind continued going, and the body followed.
- When you fall, that is not the time to gather a pity party and reminisce on how well things had been going. Forget the past, forget what you lost, forget those that have gone ahead of you. Just get back in the game and continue running towards your dreams.
- When you fall, you need to get back up, and you need to do it quickly. Great leaders are decisive.
- Great women want results and have zero tolerance for excuses. Heather could have stayed down and made excuses for why she couldn’t continue running, and people would have understood. But she didn’t make excuses, she got up and got up and chased after results.
- Understand that when you are down, time is not waiting for you. Time is moving on, people are moving on, and for every minute that you stay down you are missing out on time to finish. If Heather Dorniden had not picked herself up quickly and got back in the race, she would not have had enough time to finish in first place. You don’t have eternity to do what you have been called to do. Your dreams are bound by time.
- When you get back up and continue in the race, understand that you must double your effort to make up for lost time. No, you can no longer afford to run at the same pace that you did before you fell. And no, you cannot afford to run like those who didn’t fall.
- When you are determined and focused on winning, you will discover that you beat your record and set yourself a new record. You will also be introduced to a new you, one that you never knew existed. Heather says she hit a gear she never knew she had.
- Understand that life happens, and don’t take it personally when you fall. Great people know this.
- Great women inspire others. Their story gives hope and sends across a simple message, one that says, if I can so can you. Heather Dorniden’s story tells others that when they fall, they can still win if they pick themselves up and do it quickly.
- Great women live a life of optimism. They have no tolerance for negativity. It was optimism that caused Heather Dorniden to get up and continue running even when it seemed she could no longer win.
- Great women are full of hope. They hope for the best and hope causes them to stand up every time they fall. Hope causes them to try again.
- You don’t have to know how it is going to end to get back in the game. Heather Dorniden had no idea how it would end, but she got up quickly and continued running. She gave it her best shot, and she won!
