How Becoming a Dive Leader Helped Me in My Personal Life
Before becoming a dive professional (Divemaster/Instructor), I was searching for more personal growth and challenges — something that would help me become a better leader for myself, my family, and my business. I was reading books, taking leadership classes, and pushing myself in different ways. While that helped, without anyone there to guide me, I was still a bit lost.
When I was just a beginning open water diver, I didn’t have any dive buddies or people to dive with: my local dive shop didn’t host many fun or organized group dives. Eventually, I started diving with a diver from Spartan Scuba — who’s now a Divemaster — and began taking more advanced courses so I wouldn’t be the one holding my buddies back from the dives they wanted to do.
After I hit around 50 dives, I was in the Spartan office one day when our Chief Spartan casually mentioned he thought that I’d make a great Divemaster. “What? Me?” I thought. That wasn’t even on my radar — all I wanted was to become a solo diver! But I went home, thought about it, and talked it over with my wife. She agreed I’d make a good Divemaster, saying I was already a leader and someone people turned to for dive advice — I might as well have the training to back it up.
Having a team you can trust and lean on when you need help or advice is everything.
Divemaster and beyond
My Divemaster training went great. The biggest lesson I learned was to be a leader by holding myself to a higher standard and always being ready for anything that could happen — starting with a hefty save-a-dive kit.
After about a year of Divemastering, helping with classes, and leading a ton of dives, I started my Instructor course. I quickly realized that staying organized and keeping good records of who you work with is key to staying on task. Having a team you can trust and lean on when you need help or advice is everything. Surrounding yourself with people who are smarter or more experienced than you helps tremendously — because you never stop learning. Whether it’s gaining more dive experience, taking more classes, or working with students who challenge you to stay calm and communicate clearly — the growth never ends.
What does it all mean?
All of this translates directly into my personal life. With my wife, it’s improved how we communicate — because, let’s face it, sometimes husbands and wives don’t always communicate as effectively as they could. With my son, it’s shown him the value of holding yourself to a higher standard and staying calm even when things get tough. And in my business life — in a very old-school, manual labor field — it’s helped me give clear directions, set clear expectations, and explain why we do things the way we do. That’s been key to earning trust and buy-in, especially from younger employees who are still learning accountability. Mistakes happen, but they can always be fixed — and in the worst case, we learn from them. We don’t lose; we learn and move forward.
Happy diving,
Reverend Randell, SDI Instructor #38027
