Leadership lessons from Noah’s Ark

All I really need to know I learned from Noah’s Ark. This is the title of the funny article I got from the internet. I have kept this for many years, but it would be a refreshing break for us to take a look at this. Who knows? Perhaps the leadership lessons from this piece may just help you with your business or at least with your leadership skills.

1.  Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark. Not too many people know this, but it did not rain during Noah’s time. And as if this condition were not tricky enough, Noah built his ark on top of a mountain. But he did plan ahead.

2. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something massive. It’s not easy, and we don’t like it, but the fact remains that exercise is always better than calories. We need to remember that the more appealing things in life that we love, those may usually be the things that will destroy us. The harder and unappealing things in life we don’t like, those are the things that would be good for us. Binging on TV series and reading? One is enjoyable and the other deplorable, but reading is always better than watching senseless videos. If there’s one fact we all must live with in this life is this: Brain cells die, but fat cells live forever!

3. Don’t listen to critics-do what has to be done. Nobody has ever built a monument to a critic. There will always be those “know–it-all-types” of people. Do what is right and not what is popular. Let’s get on with it. Today many young people are so sensitive you would think that the opinions of others define their lives. They get depressed when they get bashed, but Noah stayed put and focused on what needs to be done.

4.  Build on high ground.

5.  For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.

6.  Two heads are better than one.

7.  Speed isn’t always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails. It might have taken the snails a longer time to get on board, but they eventually got there.

8.  If you can’t fight or flee then – float!

9.  Take care of your animals as if they were the last ones on earth.

10. Don’t forget that we’re all in the same boat.

11. Stay below deck during the storm.

12. Remember that amateurs built the ark and professionals built the Titanic.

13. If you have to start over, have a friend by your side.

14. Remember that the woodpeckers inside are often a more significant threat than the storm outside. As I keep on saying in my leadership seminars, some people in the boat are not rowing the boat at the same pace and in the same direction, they are drilling holes, and that is not a good thing when it comes to teamwork.

15. Don’t miss the boat.

16. No matter how bleak it looks, there’s always a rainbow on the other side.

The best lesson to be learned here is the lesson on faith. Don’t just sit there, start doing what God says. What inspires me on a personal level is this part of Noah’s story, and it has something to do with the rainbow. “I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my permanent promise to you and all the earth. When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will be seen in the clouds, and I will remember my covenant with you and with everything that lives. Never again will there be a flood that will destroy all life.” (Genesis 9:13-15)

Every time I look at the rainbow, I say a little prayer of thanksgiving. Do you know that the rainbow was created so that we could be reminded of God’s faithfulness?

So there you have it. Some pretty good leadership lessons from Noah’s Ark episode. Quite helpful for me and I hope for you too.

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