Limited Visibility

We live in a hurried and impatient world. Why? This morning as I was parked on the side of the road waiting for my wife, a large dump truck drove by with a windshield partially obstructed by frost and ice. The driver, in the hopes of improving his visibility, was leaning forward to get as close as possible to a clear and unobstructed view. I don’t believe he was anywhere close to seeing clearly, but that didn’t stop him from turning onto a busy thoroughfare.

From my vantage point the driver’s need to reach his destination prompted him to do something reckless. He viewed driving with limited visibility not as risky, but rather as something required in order to arrive at this destination on time.

Before I throw stones at this glass house I need to admit that I’ve done something similar. Not in a car with an icy windshield potentially endangering other drivers, but in ways that are equally as reckless. Here’s what I do:

1. I oftentimes start my day with the completion of my to-do list as my exalted destination and neglect my to-be list. I focus so tactically and operationally that I neglect the important destination of who do I want to be as I go through my day. I’ve forgotten that every action I take will involve, impact and influence others, and I’ve neglected to get clear about how I want to show up.

2. Because of number one I sometimes think of what is in my own best interests as opposed to my colleagues. I’ve placed my own interests at the head of the line and neglected to prioritize my most important relationships and what is in their best interests. I sometimes lose sight that this is a relationship limiting maneuver.

3. I didn’t spend time yesterday grooming my calendar for today. I had some very high level ideas about how to live the most rewarding and enriching life possible, but I hadn’t taken the time to be behaviorally explicit. I entered my day driving not unlike the dump truck driver…with partially obscured vision. I was in essence driving blind.

Leaders cannot be effective long term driving with limited visibility. We have to have a clear line of sight of how we create valuable experiences for our customers, our employees and ourselves.

How is your visibility?

Tags: behavior, Change, communication, individual effectiveness, influence, leadership, leadership brand, leadership vision, organizational change, performance, team development, team performance

This entry was posted on Friday, January 13th, 2012 at 2:19 pm and is posted in the blog category. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.