108 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / March 2020I
spent a big portion of my 20s underwater—but not in the
emotional sense. Back in the early ’90s, I was a submarine
officer, serving at the end of the Cold War.
I was 24 when I reported for duty on the USS Chicago,
a fast-attack nuclear submarine. I was put in charge of
13 men, and despite my extensive training, nothing could
have fully prepared me for the intensity of my role.
A month into a mission, the ship’s turbine generators
started giving us trouble, and it was my responsibility to get them
fixed. The ship’s engineer—who was my boss—proposed a solution,
but the chief petty officer wanted a different resolution. Wanting to
impress my supervisor and resolve the situation quickly, I ordered
the chief petty officer to fix it the engineer’s way, shutting down the
conversation and overlooking the officer’s years of expertise.
The quick fix turned out to be the right decision for the ship, but
it was one I quickly regretted. The chief petty officer was highly
respected by the crew, and though I technically outranked him, I
was the greenest officer on the ship. I should have taken more time
to understand his point of view. I could have arranged a meeting
with him and the engineer so we could work through the problem
together. Instead, I undermined him and damaged our relationship.I never wanted to make that kind of mistake again.
I left the Navy as a lieutenant in 1993, and as a parting gift, my
shipmates gave me a photograph of our submarine, complete with
their signatures and inside jokes scrawled across it. I kept it with
me as I entered a corporate career in engineering, where I quickly
learned that in business, leaders often make similar mistakes, decid-
ing too quickly on a course of action without gathering information
and support from the folks who have to carry out that decision.
In life, we tend to learn more from bad leadership examples than
from good ones, and we learn the most from our own bad decisions.
As my career evolved, my photograph of the USS Chicago became
my daily reminder of how to make better decisions. In 2001, when
I cofounded Mindbody, a technology platform that connects people
to wellness, that daily reminder became more important than ever.
Today, as CEO of Mindbody, I’m responsible for more than 2,000
team members serving more than 60,000 businesses globally. Deci-
sions have to be quick and intentional. We’re nearly two decades in, but
it’s still challenging to get things right every day. That’s why the photo
of the submarine now hangs prominently in a Navy-themed room in
my house. It inspires me to be the best leader I can be and make deci-
sions thoughtfully—no matter the pressure or circumstances.WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
Tell us about a story, person, object, or something else that pushes you forward, and we may include it in a future issue. And we may make you
photograph or illustrate it, too. Email [email protected] with the subject line “WHAT INSPIRES ME.”
PHOTOGRAPHBY^ JP^ GREENWOODLearning Under Pressure
by Rick Stollmeyer, cofounder and CEO, Mindbody
→ MAKING WAVES
The submarine where
Stollmeyer became
a better leader.