Are You Vulnerable?

On this day, March 7th, 1986, divers from the USS Preserver locate the crew cabin of Challenger on the ocean floor.

Earlier that year, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred when the Shuttle broke apart 73 seconds into its flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members. The spacecraft disintegrated over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida.

Disintegration of the entire vehicle began after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The O-ring failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it sealed, allowing pressurized hot gas from within the solid rocket motor to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent SRB attachment hardware and external fuel tank. This led to the separation of the right-hand SRB's aft attachment and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter.

Something as simple and relatively insignificant as an O-Ring brought tragedy to the surviving families of seven fine individuals- individuals who were instantly unable to influence others with their lives.

What is your leadership vulnerable to today? A simple flirt with your secretary? Working 10-hour days with little sleep? Not eating right? Not heeding doctor's orders to reduce your cholesterol?

You and I are most vulnerable to that thing that seems insignificant to us. Watch your "O-Ring" issues. Serve strong. Finish strong.

This event and photo is courtesy of: www.todayhistory.net - Today in History for iPhone

Comments

[Kevin M.]

Great reminder Scott! No leader wakes up one day and thinks "I am going to destroy marriage" or "I am going to destroy my reputation." It is a slow fade ...

[Scott Couchenour]

Exactly, Kevin. No one signs up to make a disaster out of their lives. Yet, to have no intentional plan to stay strong, that's what many end up doing.