The Leadership Lessons of Kenny Loggins

Is Top Gun a shameless recruiting poster for the military that glorifies violence? Yes. 

Is it also the greatest movie of all time? Definitely.

Do I watch the opening scene on YouTube at least once a month...just because? Of course. 

Instead of going into all of the leadership lessons from the movie, I’ll focus instead on just Kenny Loggins’ song, Danger Zone

Not that there are a lot of lyrics in the song, but these stand out:

You'll never say hello to you

Until you get it on the red line overload

You'll never know what you can do

Until you get it up as high as you can go

Out along the edges

Always where I burn to be

The further on the edge

The hotter the intensity

The idea that we don’t really know ourselves until we push into uncomfortable spaces reminds me of David Goggins’ Can’t Hurt Me. In it, he describes how embracing discomfort enabled him to build the toughness needed to become a Navy SEAL:

“From then on, I brainwashed myself into craving discomfort. If it was raining, I would go run. Whenever it started snowing, my mind would say, Get your [bleeping] running shoes on. Sometimes I wussed out and had to deal with it at the Accountability Mirror. But facing that mirror, facing myself, motivated me to fight through uncomfortable experiences, and, as a result, I became tougher. And being tough and resilient helped me meet my goals.” 

In The Artist’s Journey, Steven Pressfield similarly uses a military analogy to describe how going toward our fears is where we get the best out of ourselves: 

“Elite warriors are trained to ‘run toward the sound of the guns.’

“The artist lives by that principle too.

“What project terrifies her most? What work is she certain she can never pull off? What role will push her past her limits, take her into places she has never gone? What journey will carry her off the map entirely?

“The artist hears the guns. She feels the battle lines inside her and she senses which quarter of the field terrifies her most. 

“She goes there.

“She runs there.” 

This past week, I was facilitating a group discussion on leadership. One participant mentioned that while he was being pushed and felt overwhelmed at work, he was grateful because it was causing him to grow. I told him, “Kenny Loggins would call that the Danger Zone.” 

This is all just to say to my wife that the next time she sees me watching Top Gun in the middle of the day, it’s legitimately for work purposes.

Here’s to the Danger Zone!