Mint juleps, big hats and fatal flashbacks 

The Kentucky Derby puts the national spotlight on the bluegrass state. Not only is it our time to shine nationally, the city is absolutely electric for three weeks leading up to the most exciting two minutes in sports.

We have concerts, celebrity filled parties, bourbon tastings, steamboat races, fireworks and parades. Heck we even have an event called the bed races. I have no clue what it has to do with horses but it’s a wild time.

Still, at some point in the fun festivities every year, I’m always reminded of death, my own insecurity and failure.

Sound heavy? It is.

In 2008 I experienced an unforgettable moment at the Kentucky Derby.

While the root cause was a tragic death, I gained a lesson that will last for the rest of my life.

I learned the difference between the task at hand and reaching the goal.

Flashback: Intern Brad

I went to the University of Kentucky to get a degree in journalism. For three summers I interned at various positions, focusing on photojournalism. In 2008, I landed a video internship at the Lexington Herald-Leader working with some of the best photographers in not only the state, but the country.

The entire concept of photojournalists doing video was still emerging in 2008. The entire industry was freaking out that photographers were eventually just going to start pulling still frames from video instead of shooting stills. While my past internships had been photography, this one seemed like a good chance to push myself into an area with tremendous room for growth.

I've photographed the Derby for multiple publications. It’s an incredible operation behind the scenes. The news organizations have all hands on deck, and throughout the day each photographer is getting multiple assignments across a wide range of subjects—hats and fashion, infield, trainers and owners, etc.

Then, come race time, you are assigned a spot to photograph the race, ensuring it's covered from every angle. Horse races move incredibly fast, so it's critical everyone is in place so nothing is missed. A lot can happen in the blink of an eye at race horse speed, which is why many photographers use remotes to shoot 5-6 cameras at once (these photographers are the best horse racing photographers in the world).

One time (years after today’s main story) my assignment was to climb into a rickety scaffolding to get a wide picturesque view right as the sun broke through after a day of rain as the crowd sang "My Old Kentucky Home." I was fairly confident the drunks below were going to topple me into the crowd.

In 2008, I did video up until the race, then I was just another camera on the track. I was assigned just after the finish line. I knew my role. I was the intern—my spot was not critical. Maybe I'd get a few good celebration shots, but I was effectively photographing the horses out of the gate, then after they had already finished. I was mostly just looking for some good emotion.

It was supposed to be a cake walk. I was the extra man the team didn't really need.

It turned out I was the only angle on a story that made international news. I botched my assignment. And the entire team would eventually know I screwed up.

The epic failure

In front of 157,770 people, Big Brown won the race, and the first Derby filly in 9 years—Eight Belles—was second. But Eight Belles fractured both front ankles after the race, right in front of me.

She was down.

Where horses had just torn through at 40 mph, panicked men in suits and dress shoes now sprinted. I didn't know what was happening. I didn’t grow up around race horses, so I just photographed what was in front of me.

I didn't know what to do. I was at my post—I couldn't leave.

But I was losing the angle as trainers put up a tarp blocking the stands.

Should I move? Do I break protocol and track rules to run onto the track?

Surely someone else was closer. A professional.

I'm just an intern.

I bet they'll have a better view.

As it turned out, they didn't.

I was it.

Eventually, I saw a photographer jump the fence and run to get the angle. I am fairly confident that person was Associated Press photographer Charlie Riedel, as the AP was the only team with that shot.

Within an hour, I would know how much I let my team down.

The lesson of a lifetime

The photo editor, who was so good to me and was a great teacher, spared no words that day. To paraphrase, I had truly screwed this up.

Yes, I had stuck to my spot. I photographed everything I could from behind the railing. But I put my individual task at hand over the goal: covering the story of the Kentucky Derby.

And Eight Belles falling was the story.

As if this wasn't bad enough, I realized I had not just let my team down, I failed nationally.

I failed the spectators who wanted to know what happened.

I failed horse racing, which was outraged by the event.

I failed the journalists who wanted better photos of the event from the wire services.

Although I should have had a better angle, my photo you above here still hit the wires and ran across countless publications nationally that week. Normally I would have been proud to have my photo shared so many times, but it felt like a national showcase of my failures. The guy who screwed up one of the highest profile injuries in all of sports.

The short end of this lesson is simple:

Know when to make the call to ignore the task to reach the goal.

Today this is a foundational experience to my belief that teams who understand the mission perform better when facing adversity. Leaders, ensure your team knows the goals of the company and team. You can’t always be over their shoulder to tell them to jump the rail and get on the track. If they understand the mission, they won’t think twice to stop a now moot task to complete the mission.

3 ways to ensure your team understands and moves toward the mission

1) The first? Simply having a mission.

The professional photographers knew the mission. I didn’t. I don’t put that on the photo editor, but in your organization it’s critical to make sure everyone understands where the goal posts are so the team collectively knows what they’re working towards. It helps people when they’re faced with making the call in the moment.

2) Fire bullets first, then cannonballs

So many teams get lost in ideation and creation, constantly launching new ideas and hoping for the silver bullet that will fix their growth problems. Strong teams instead understand a process of ideating, testing, iterating and retrying. Jim Collins has a brilliant process called “fire bullets then cannonballs.” I’ll just share that here, as any effort to paraphrase will fail.

3) Ensure you’re hiring A players

B players will never jump onto the track. They will always stick to the task at hand because it’s what they were told to do. A players will take action without asking for permission, and they’ll fill you in later.

Who I’m listening to: Jack Harlow

What I’m reading: “The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, A Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History”

Follow me for mid-week updates:

LinkedIn | TikTok | GoWild | Twitter | YouTube