Though he was known for his athleticism on the grid iron and the big screen, Ronald Reagan felt his time as a lifeguard on the Rock River was the test of his strength. Reagan, who pulled seventy-seven people to safety, recorded each episode by carving a notch in a riverside tree. The greatest challenge of being a lifeguard, Reagan shared, isn't spotting the swimmer in trouble, or swimming out quickly enough, or even pulling the person back in to safety. The greatest challenge is overpowering the drowning person's second nature response to splash frantically, claw at, or try to use the lifeguard's body as a raft-in essence, dragging the lifeguard under the water. For the average person, Reagan could do this with his sheer strength. But, every autumn, after harvest, groups of huge, muscle-bound farm boys would come to Rock River to celebrate the end of the season. Inevitably, one or two would start goofing off and end up in deep water. Reagan knew these guys were too big for him to physically overpower. The key, according to Reagan, was to somehow get the person's attention, stun them into awareness, so they were able to make the conscious choice to do as he instructed. They had to be willing to let go of their second nature and trust him to take them to safety.

The Second Nature Challenge

I am fascinated by the role of second nature within individuals and organizations. Without question, second nature can boost organizational performance at every level. Think of it this way: consistent performance, comprised of repeated correct decisions, leads to small wins in the short-term, and, more significantly, repeated performance. It's what I call the "second nature" phase of organizational performance -- employees spend a small amount of time deciding how to take the correct action, without direct intervention of management. Doing the right things is second nature.

On the other hand, in most strategic initiatives, we want our employees to set aside an outmoded second nature and begin exhibiting the new, more desired behaviors we've identified. Yet, like the swimmers Reagan described, individuals find it difficult to let go of their current second nature behaviors-so they splash and struggle.

As leaders, we see the splashing and wonder what's wrong with those darn employees. We've told them what they need to do. We've trained them so they have all the skills and resources they need to succeed. All they have to do is - well, just trust us and do what we've outlined. But for some perplexing reason they leave much of their new-found knowledge and skills in the training room, then revert to the things they've always done (the outmoded second nature) when they go back to their job site.

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