Leadership Traffic Jam

I love finding leadership moments in the simple things. This morning on my way to the office, I came upon a familiar place but not a familiar scene.

I drive by a school intersection every day. Normally there is a police officer present to direct drivers due to the heavy amount of traffic. This morning there was no police officer directing traffic. Hence, we were all winging it. Some drivers politely waved others through. Others barely tapped the brakes before gunning it, regardless of whether it was their turn to go. The result was a traffic jam (pictured above). Cars were backed up in every direction even though there were no more commuters this morning than there are on any other morning!

The only difference this particular morning was that we had no leader providing us with direction. We had no one leading us to make sure we were moving in the direction we were supposed to go. Instead of getting angry, I had to grin, grab my phone, and take a picture. I immediately knew that I wanted to share this leadership experience. Here are three lessons this situation illustrates: (more…)