EXPERIENCE IS USELESS IF YOU’RE NOT WILLING TO ADAPT

There’s a myth in leadership that experience automatically makes you better.

But I’ve learned, on the racetrack, in health policy, and in research funding, that experience without adaptability is just a heavier anchor. The world changes. Fast. And if you’re clinging to “what used to work,” you’re not leading. You’re coasting.

WHY OLD HABITS DIE HARD

When I first stepped into healthcare policy, I brought years of technical, regulatory, and hospital-side experience. I thought that would be enough. But I quickly learned that yesterday’s logic doesn’t always hold up under today’s pressure.

Things change: → Rules evolve→ Stakeholders shift→ People expect more transparency, faster answers, and clearer rationale.

If I was going to be effective, I had to let go of my pride in having "been there before" and focus on what the moment required.

RACING IS A BRUTAL REMINDER OF THIS

You could win a race one weekend and be lapped the next. Same driver. Same car. But different conditions, different competitors, different track surface, different tires, different strategy.

I’ve seen experienced teams fall apart because they refused to adjust. They stuck to what worked in May, and it cost them in August. And I’ve seen newer teams beat the veterans simply because they stayed curious, paid attention, and weren’t too proud to shift their approach.

ADAPTIVE LEADERSHIP ISN’T SOFT, IT’S STRATEGIC

Some people hear “adaptable leadership” and think it means being indecisive or overly flexible.

Not true. Being adaptive is about being situationally aware and having the courage to course-correct when new data demands it. In my case, that’s meant:

• Changing my view on certain research funding models

• Reworking how we communicate results and priorities at the JKTG Foundation

• Updating how we run our race program when new drivers, new tech, or new dynamics emerge

You don’t adapt because you’re weak. You adapt because the stakes are high and outcomes matter more than ego.

EXPERIENCE ONLY MATTERS WHEN YOU’RE STILL LEARNING

I know leaders who’ve been in the game for decades, but haven’t changed a thing about how they lead since year five. That’s not experience. That’s stasis.

True experience is pattern recognition plus humility. You’ve seen enough to know when a pattern is breaking, and you have the self-awareness to ask: “What needs to change in me so this can work?”

THE BOTTOM LINE

If you’re leading anything right now, a business, a policy group, a research lab, a race team, your experience is valuable.

But it’s not a shield. It’s a toolkit. And the tool you reach for should depend on the problem you’re facing.

Because leadership isn’t just about knowing the road. It’s about knowing when the road has changed.