by john@johnhagerman.com |
Who would have thought an interesting career/business concept would come to me while letting my son practice his driving in preparation for getting his license? We were driving on a usually busy four-lane street when I noticed that the lane we were in was fairly tightly packed while the lane next to ours had long gaps between cars. I was reminded of something I learned early in my college career when I was paying the bills by being a driving instructor, and I told my son to, “take the lane of least resistance,” and move over. He changed lanes and, instead of being tensed up with cars close in front and behind, I could see him relax and start enjoying the drive. That’s when it struck me, taking the lane of least resistance could be a good metaphor for business. So how does a driving instruction translate into business sense? Think about it, when you’re driving in a busy lane have to constantly contend with distractions like tailgaters, bunched cars in front of you, and having to keep your head on a swivel to avoid an accident. In business, when you’re in a busy lane, you have to go at the pace everyone else is going or you might get run over. Sometimes there are people so close behind you they distract you from what’s ahead to the point where you miss opportunities. When traffic is so tight in front of you don’t have the space to learn what you need to learn before being forced to move forward. It’s stressful because you become more worried about not making...
by john@johnhagerman.com |
By John Hagerman As a merit badge counselor for my son’s Boy Scout troop I frequently need to sign off on the boy’s completing another badge. Each one is a step toward a higher rank. More importantly, each one marks another set of skills the boys had to learn. What they gain is more than just a brightly colored patch on their uniform. What they gain is another piece of the puzzle of how to become confident, compassionate, and mature young men – the future leaders of our businesses and our country. From what I see, the future is bright for these boys. I wish there were a similar, clear-cut path everyone could follow to adulthood and leadership. Imagine the shape our county would be in if every businessperson and political leader took a weekly oath to follow just half the things a scout does? If trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrift, brave, clean and reverent was the starting point; our economy and country would be in much better shape. We wouldn’t have business leaders focused more on profits than people. And we’d have political leaders more concerned with doing the right thing for the country rather than doing whatever they can to maintain power. Yeah, I know, it’s a high, unrealistic dream, but I see boys doing it every week. Why not our leaders? I’d like to share the story of one scout that I believe demonstrates what we want in our future leaders. This young man struggled with grades and missed far too many days of school due to allergies and injuries. He didn’t...
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