The Hot Air Balloon Joke

Realising he was lost, the man in a hot air balloon reduced altitude and spotted a woman on the ground below.

As he descended further he shouted over to her, ‘Excuse me, please can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago but I don’t know where I am.'

Because the woman wanted to help she explained, 'You are in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41 degrees North latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees West longitude'.

'You must be an engineer' said the balloonist.


'I am' replied the woman. 'How did you know?'

'Well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you told me is technically correct but I have no idea what to make of your information and the fact is, I am still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help so far.'

The woman below responded, 'You must be in management'.

'I am' replied the balloonist 'but how did you know?' 'Well,' said the woman, 'you don't know where you are or where you are going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise which you have no idea how to keep and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is, you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now somehow, it's my fault'.

I don't know the source of this joke but one thing struck me as I read it - Would the conversation have been different if the person in the balloon had been a Leader rather than a manager?

I have a sneaky feeling that a leader would take their engineer along with them . So they would have explained where they were heading and seek advice and guidance from the engineer to get to the destination on time.

As for the hot air in the balloon? A Leader would make sure that the source of hot air was seen as a positive energy from everyone in the basket rather than meaningless hyperbole.

Put simply, a Leader would never leave the ground without being certain that a promise could be met. A Leader would ensure that all the resources and people they needed were going along for the ride.

First rule of leadership: Never get into a hot air balloon unless you know where you're going, have the best people alongside and know that you can arrive at your destination on time and in one piece.