The Rollercoaster of Leadership

2 Samuel 3:39 - “I am weak today, though anointed king.”

This happened to me just a few days ago.

I was on a high.

Work was going well. Momentum was building. Things felt clear, steady, even a little easy for a moment. Then the phone rang.

A staff member called with an issue. Not small. Not simple. The kind of situation that immediately pulls you out of whatever momentum you had and drops you straight into complexity, emotion, and tension.

And just like that, I went from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley.

It struck me how fast it happened. No warning. No transition. Just up… and then down.

I was with Michele when this happened. We were grabbing a quick bite to eat. I put down my phone from the call, looked at Michele, and said, “Leadership feels like a rollercoaster.”

When you start to feel that tension, those swings, it’s easy to wonder if something is wrong.

Am I doing this wrong?
Shouldn’t this be more stable by now?
Why does it feel like I can’t stay on a “high” for very long?

But then you look at one of the greatest leaders in Scripture. David.

In 2 Samuel 1–3, his leadership reads exactly like a rollercoaster. In chapter 1, he’s grieving. Saul is dead. Jonathan is gone. It’s a heavy, emotional low. In chapter 2, things begin to shift. David is anointed king over Judah. There’s movement. Progress. Momentum.

Then in chapter 3, it gets complicated again. Abner, who had been opposing David, switches sides. This is a huge win. A breakthrough moment.

And then just as quickly, Joab murders Abner to avenge his brother.

Back down again. And in the middle of all of it, David says something that feels painfully honest:

2 Samuel 3:39 - “I am weak today, though anointed king.”

That line might be one of the most accurate descriptions of leadership in the entire Bible.

Anointed… and weak.
Called… and overwhelmed.
Chosen… and still feeling the weight of it all.

If David lived on that kind of ride, why would we expect anything different? The goal isn’t to eliminate the ups and downs.

The goal is to learn how to ride them.

There is a new rollercoaster being introduced at Six Flags Over Texas called Tormenta Rampaging Run. And this thing is no ordinary coaster. According to Six Flags, it will be the world’s first giga dive coaster, standing 309 feet tall, featuring a 285-foot, 95-degree beyond-vertical drop, reaching speeds of 87 miles per hour, and stretching 4,199 feet in length. It will also include five inversions, including a 179-foot vertical loop and a 218-foot Immelmann inversion. Six Flags says it will break six world records when it opens.

That is part of what makes it so intimidating. It is massive, fast, steep, and built to throw riders through a relentless series of drops, inversions, and direction changes. It is designed to keep you off balance. Just when you think you have found your footing, it shifts again.

But there is a rollercoaster that is even more intense than anything Six Flags could build.

It’s called “leadership.”

And unlike a theme park ride, you do not wait in line for it. You do not choose when to get on it. And you do not ride it once and go home.

You ride it every single day.

So here are a few thoughts on how to ride the rollercoaster called leadership.

One of the first things you have to settle as a leader is that this is not a phase. The ups and downs are not something you graduate from. They are part of the assignment. Many leaders burn out because they are waiting for the ride to smooth out. They assume that with enough experience or time, things will level off. But leadership is not a straight line. It is movement.

David did not step into leadership, and suddenly everything stabilized. If anything, the higher he went, the more complex it became. The sooner you accept that this is part of the calling, the less it will catch you off guard. You are not trying to escape the ride. You are learning how to lead on it.

When you are in a valley, it does not feel temporary. It feels defining. It tells you this is how it is always going to be. That something is broken. That maybe you have lost momentum for good. But valleys have a way of distorting perspective.

David did not say, “I am always weak.” He said, “I am weak today.” That one word matters. Today.

Healthy leaders learn how to put a timestamp on what they are feeling. This is real. This is heavy. But this is not permanent. The nature of the ride is movement. There is another climb coming. You may not see it yet, and you may not feel it yet, but the drop is never the end of the track. Do not build permanent conclusions out of temporary lows.

When the pressure increases, your instinct is to get out. To escape. To fix it fast. To make a decision that relieves the tension. That is when leaders make some of their worst decisions. They quit too soon. They react too quickly. They pull back when they should stay steady.

The most dangerous place in leadership is not the valley. It is the decision you make in the valley.

David had every reason to react when Abner was killed. Politically and personally, it was a moment filled with pressure. But he did not make a reckless move. He grieved. He processed. He responded with restraint.

Sometimes courage does not look like action. Sometimes it looks like staying put long enough to respond wisely instead of reacting emotionally. Do not jump off mid-ride.

Every leader has to come to terms with this. You do not control most of what happens. You do not control what people do, what situations arise, or what problems land on your desk. But you do control how you respond.

On a rollercoaster, you do not steer. You do not control the speed or the drops. But you can decide whether you tense up or settle in. Leadership works the same way.

David could not control Abner. He could not control Joab. He could not control the timing of becoming king over all Israel. But he could control his posture. And posture matters.

Two leaders can walk through the exact same situation and have completely different experiences. One is overwhelmed while the other remains steady. The difference is not the circumstance. It is the response. You may not control the ride, but you do control how you ride it.

This may sound strange at first, but it is where mature leadership begins to shift. I remember when my kids were younger, they hated rollercoasters. The noise, the speed, the uncertainty, it was too much. But something changed over time. Now they love them. Same ride. Same drops. Same twists. Different perspective.

What if leadership works the same way?

What if the goal is not just to survive the ride, but to actually develop an appreciation for it? Not because the ride is easy, but because you know you are not riding it alone.

Jesus said He would never leave us or forsake us. That means every high, He is there. Every drop, He is there. Every unexpected turn, He is there. You are not holding on, hoping you make it through. You are secure. Called. Covered. And accompanied.

So you wake up the next day ready to ride again. Not because you know what is coming, but because you know who is with you.

Leadership will take you up and down. There will be moments where you feel strong and moments where you feel exactly like David. “I am weak today, though anointed king.”

Both can be true at the same time. And maybe that is the point.

Not to eliminate the tension, but to learn how to lead faithfully in the middle of it.

Stay on the ride.

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