YOU LEAD THE WAY YOU DRIVE

“I made it to work in only 35 minutes. A new record!”

“A new record?”

“Yes… my previous record was 41 minutes. I am on a roll!”

“What made the difference?”

“What can I tell you? I am a great driver.”

“Yeah, right!?”

“What?”

“How many people did you cut off in traffic? How many ‘yellow’ lights did you speed up and run? How many people did you force out of the way by driving too close to their bumper?”

“Well… not many. I can’t help it if people don’t know how to drive!”

“What would happen if everyone drove the way you do?”

“Hey, I have been accident-free for six months! Plus, I have a right to drive the way I do.”

“A right? The right to be rude, to stress people out on the road, to risk another accident that may hurt you or someone else? The way you drive is exactly how you lead your department.”

“What?! No way!”

“You cut people off in conversation. You push yourself into projects where you don’t belong. You don’t give credit to anyone except yourself.”

“Hey... that hurts!”

“How many ‘people accidents’ have you had in your department over the past six months? How many meetings have you canceled without advance notice? How many performance reviews have you held at the last minute, or missed altogether? How many work anniversaries and birthdays have you missed celebrating with your staff? Think about it: you have some of the highest turnover in the company, and your department’s performance has been up and down over the past year. The problem with you is that it is ‘all about you.’” 

“Hey… you are cutting into my lane!”

“Exactly. How does it feel?”

Until Next Friday,

Photo by Laura Gariglio on Unsplash