The Ability to Pivot.

Blog #11

The ability to pivot is a phrase I first heard from my good friend and fellow Christian biker, Tommy Hay. Tommy is a very successful entrepreneur. On the outside, the guy appears to live a very humble, frugal life. Once you get to know him, you realize he has taken big chances, had great success, and prospered through his ability to pivot.

Tommy and I define the ability to pivot this way: “The ability to recognize when your playing field or environment has changed and it is time for you to change; to have the courage to move on and to completely reinvent yourself when necessary, to accept that this will happen many times in your life.”

This is harder than it sounds because we all become very attached to the way things are now. We even make our current situation a part of our identity. More on that in a minute.

An easy example of the ability to pivot is the ability to change your motorcycle destination quickly. Pete and I have become good at that when we see hard rain in the forecast. We’ve had great long distance rides going places we had not originally planned to go.

For the few of us who lead Full Armor rides, we’re more than willing to switch it up to suit the group, unless it’s a mission ride. A mission ride is a pre-planned ride to intentionally display our Christian presence someplace. This could be a church visit or a small “mom and pop” restaurant that really looks forward to our visits. Usually this is not the biggest or best restaurant in a small town, but a place where the staff really enjoys praying and fellowshipping with us. When Full Armor pivots at the last minute, there’s often one rider who struggles with going somewhere that was not listed on the published calendar. They get over it quickly.

Another example of the requirement to pivot is someone who retires or is forced to leave an occupation where they had an important title for a long period of time. Two examples are the military or law enforcement. I’ve see more than one person really struggle to reinvent themselves after leaving an occupation (and title) that became a big part of their identity. Colonel Mike Ore (Retired) defines it as going from “hero to zero.” If you don’t prepare yourself for the pivot before hand by having something good to do or be a part of, it can be a challenging time.

I’m really proud of my time in the Ohio Army National Guard and I’m proud to have been a Sergeant First Class. I went right from those 12 years to being a police officer, not an incredibly hard pivot. I’m proud of being a police sergeant, lieutenant, deputy chief and spending 15 years as the police chief of a great agency. I might have crashed when I retired, but the last 3-5 years of that job were not fun as the progressive leftist anti police movement overtook most of our elected body. It was a blessing from God that I survived the last few years. I was glad to be gone. I think God did that for me so that I would not grieve over losing such a big part of my identity.

Note: That has happened around the country because misguided politicians try to gain favor with activist groups by legitimizing them and incorporating them in decision making. What the politicians don’t realize is; the activists are never satisfied; it’s never enough, the activists have no loyalty to the politician, and the activists do not care near as much about the health of the community as they do about their activism. Division is the activist calling card. They’ll destroy a community without batting an eye. Today’s activist will burn their own town to the ground if it furthers their activism, but you’ve seen that on your television (unless you watch a corporate media channel that doesn’t show the activist riots). I’m always reminded of this saying when thinking of appeaser politicians; “Appeasers feed the alligator hoping it will eat them last.”

Another thing God did for me was to give me a strong desire to pursue a relationship with Jesus and my church. My identity is as a Christian first. That fills any void created by leaving the army or law enforcement.

I find it interesting that some people who served one tour in the military many years ago continue to make that brief service a major part of their identity today. I’m not talking about wearing a veteran ball cap. I’m talking about military post-service tattoos, clothing, flags, stickers, labels, and any other marking that can be found on or about the person. They fall just short of carrying the Army, Marine Corp, Air Force or Coast Guard flag with them everywhere they go, though it would be hard to get in the car.

Some of them served 3-4 years, 30-40+ years ago, weren’t all that good at soldiering and will tell you they hated most of it at the time. I find that an interesting study on our strong need to identify as or be a part of something. One would think they certainly have titles, affiliations or accomplishments since their military service that they are at least as proud of; husband, wife, parent, Christian, etc. But honestly, we see adults wearing new Boy Scout T-shirts even though they were an assistant scout master many years ago when their son was young. Again, we have a powerful, inherent need for affiliation or title AND, we want you to know what that was/is. I offer my Full Armor riding vest as further evidence.

Pete is not into the biker vest thing, but I do like his helmet designs.

When I went through the night police academy in 1993, I remember instructors telling us not to wear identifying police shirts or caps when we were off duty. The reason is, you become a target. If someone is about to commit an armed crime, you’ll be the first one they need to disable. The wise criminal will assume you are armed. But, I see off duty cops wearing identifying police shirts all the time. Their need to show off their affiliation overshadows their desire to not be a target.

We were also told not to put stickers on our vehicle that indicated we own or like firearms. Again, the assumption to the criminal eye is that we are armed or that our firearm is under the seat of our parked car. But, we see gun logos and “Protected by Smith & Wesson” type stickers all the time. Again, a persons desire to show their affiliation with the gun group overshadows their desire to keep a low, safer profile. The desire to belong is amazingly powerful.

I think the void they’re trying to fill is actually our inherent need for Christ. But, it sometimes takes great courage to pivot to Christ, to read the Bible, to make prayer a foundation of our life and to find a church. Some see it paramount to admitting they were wrong all those years that they resisted the call to know God. It takes courage to make such a life’s change in front if all your friends and family, but it is the only true life saving change.

One last note, when I talk about the ability to pivot, I’m reminded of the “Who Moved my Cheese” book and subsequent movement of the late 90’s. It’s a great story about identifying when your playing field has changed and having the ability to step from your comfort zone and make the changes you need to make in order to survive and prosper. If you haven’t read it I recommend you pick it up. It’s a very quick, entertaining read.

Also, please read my book titled “Backroads, Buffoonery & Breakthroughs in Leadership,” available on Amazon.com. Thanks.