The years have been just full of surprises for me, and a lot of fun. – Dick Van Dyke
Imagine driving along the interstate on your way to work, an important meeting, a ball game, or just trying to get home. Instead, you find yourself in a traffic jam. You are in this traffic jam, not because of a wreck, construction, or bad weather. The reason? A kangaroo!
This was the predicament that motorists in Tuskegee, Alabama, found themselves in recently when traffic snarled on Interstate 85. The sight of the free-spirited kangaroo hopping along the side of the interstate was certainly a sight to behold. State Troopers had to stop traffic in both directions to help the owner capture the wayward animal.
Being delayed in traffic on the interstate because of a kangaroo is not something any motorist in Alabama would have suspected they’d encounter when they got up that day. No doubt it would not have appeared on anyone’s bingo card.
In life, things will show up on your bingo card that you didn’t see coming or have any formal training on how to deal with.
When I began my leadership journey in ministry over 40 years ago, I was wide-eyed and woefully naive. Rather quickly, “kangaroos” started showing up on my bingo card that I was not prepared for, things that I didn’t think I would see in that line of work, and I didn’t have a leadership foundation to fall back on. My heart was in the right place, and my head was full of theology. But in those early days, it simply wasn’t enough. The kangaroos were winning the day.
Chances are, you’re feeling overwhelmed, too. You are dealing with things you didn’t see coming, and you feel out of your league. What is a leader to do? Allow me to take you back to foundational principles. As you work through these, you will gain more and more confidence as a leader. These are a great starting place.
Develop your growth plan.
If you want to develop as a leader, you need a growth plan. As John Maxwell says, “Hope is not a strategy.” Additionally, he says, “You cannot change your life until you change something you do everyday.” This, my friend, is where you begin.
Without a growth plan, you are like a runner wearing ankle weights. You become your own worst enemy, making things much harder on yourself. Personal growth should revolve around daily improvement, with the expectation that you will be better tomorrow than you are today. Click To Tweet
Additional Resource: Five Signs That Your Leadership Has a Settlers Mentality
Find a mentor or coach.
No one is meant to do life alone. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another, says the writer of Proverbs. My frustrations in those early days could have been nullified if I had had a mentor to take me under their wing and help me navigate that bingo card.
With a mentor or coach, you have someone who is invested in your growth, who will hold you accountable, be your confidant, and your biggest cheerleader. Your mentor or coach will be a tremendous asset to you as a leader, and one day you can be the one passing along your wisdom to another.
Additional Resource: Leadership in a Word: Mentors
Humility and humor.
In my years in leadership, there’s a straightforward thing I’ve come to learn, and it’s this – the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know. That’s humbling. That is what propels me to keep learning, reading, listening to podcasts, attending conferences, and networking, because the learning never ends.
Additionally, I’ve also come to appreciate having a good sense of humor. A sense of humor is what keeps you grounded and humble. Having the ability to laugh at yourself (might as well, others are), and realize that a perfect day can get interrupted by a kangaroo.
Additional Resource: Reclaiming Humility in Leadership
©2025 Doug Dickerson
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