In November, the AJ Blain Foundation hosted another successful Leadership Event through the sponsorship of the Blain family and the AJ Blain Foundation. The gathering of friends and family of AJ featured keynote speaker Destin Sandlin, a former-rocket engineer widely known for his educational video channel Smarter Every Day.

His out-of-the-box keynote emphasized the importance of understanding each other as a fundamental leadership skill. To illustrate, he brought a strange item out onto the stage: a backwards bicycle. He explained that when the handlebars turn left, the front wheel turns right, and vice versa.

“Anyone want to try?” he asked.

Al Blain offered up a week off without pay to any employee who could get the job done!

But after several attempts and just as many failures, Destin explained that he has never found anyone able to succeed on their first try—success often takes weeks or months of practice. The backwards bicycle experiment underscored neuroplasticity and the important message of his keynote: knowledge does not equal understanding, and effective leadership hinges on the latter. You can see Destin’s backwards bike experiment here: https://youtu.be/MFzDaBzBlL0

The AJ Blain Foundation is honored to carry on AJ’s legacy of investing in leaders. Destin’s appearance at the Leadership Event was sponsored by the AJ Blain Foundation. The Blain family provided dinner, refreshments and a band for guests to enjoy. This annual event is a key part of empowering and inspiring current and future leaders.

Thanks to those that donated to the AJ Blain Foundation at the event in AJ’s honor.