There are just 18 inches between the ventral fin on my jet and the tip of the tail of the next in this formation. The surge of momentum that came with their closure was as emotional as it was aerodynamically real, and the collective effects had an incredibly positive impact on our mission.
With an exceptional level of trust, each pilot would not just close to that distance, they could absorb a foot of inadvertent movement to baffle out the turbulence and sustain the team’s effect. In that sense, the way each followed was inextricably linked to the momentum and the impact the team delivered.
From CEO to mid-level supervisor, we all face the same challenge. Our job is to entice those in our wake to close the gaps in a way that furthers momentum and allows the entire team to accelerate. Drafting is about maximizing performance. It’s about building the kind of trust and following that will remove the weight from your efforts and allow you to elevate your trajectory.
It’s for any organization or any individual attempting to maximize the speed, precision and overall effects of their teams, their families, and their lives.
Drafting was stumbled on by stock car racers on the track at Daytona when they figured out that two cars running close together, nose-to-tail, could sustain a speed that was faster than either car could achieve on its own, even momentarily.
The concept relies on the lead car knocking down the wall of air for both vehicles, and the trailer being close enough to the leaders bumper to take the drag from the trailing edge of his vehicle and shifting it to the back side of her own…
While the concept is mutually beneficial, it’s a little bit lopsided – at least at first. As the leader moves through the air, it’s motion creates a draft… a vacuum that can effectively help a trailer move forward when it is several car lengths behind the leader. And if the trailer elects to close, the pull becomes stronger with every foot of closure it chooses to make.
But funny enough, the leader doesn’t get any relief from its drag until the trailer is within one car length of its own. Once the trailer is inside of that distance, both cars begin accelerating to a speed that neither could achieve on its own…
Think about that in terms of you and your team. How many of your folks are snuggled right up against your bumper, taking the drag off of your car, and how many are smoking a Lucky two car lengths back, basking in the warmth of your draft? It is absolutely up to them close the gaps – we can’t make them close… but it is up to us as leaders to set the conditions that entice them forward. This presentation is all about how you make that happen