Leaning back and zoned out with the cruise control on, you comfortably occupy the right lane at five over the speed limit on the expressway.  With your mind drifting, you catch the sight of a car slowly passing you in the left lane.

As the car slowly advances, you instinctively look to your left and make eye contact with the other driver.  For a long second, while you and the other driver are going the same speed, it feels as if you’re both sitting still. In this long moment, you feel a connection with the other driver, but then he zooms ahead of you and is quickly out of sight.

After the other driver speeds away, you check your speedometer and guess how fast he’s going.  As you glance down at your speedometer, two things run through your mind.  First, you check to make sure you’re not going too fast yourself.  Second, you pass judgment on the other driver.  You wonder where he is going in such a hurry, and you secretly hope that he gets pulled over for speeding.

The fact is that you were mentally zoned out until he drove up beside you.  It took somebody passing you to make you evaluate your own speed.  The same happens in life and in business. We cruise along at a comfortable speed and then we see evidence of somebody zooming past us.

When somebody passes us, it makes us feel like we’re going slower than we actually are.  To understand your real speed, stop looking at the other drivers on the road and start looking at how quickly the dashed lines on the road are zipping by. Compare yourself and your vehicle to unbiased reference points, and you’ll be able to make stronger decisions.

Fight the instinct to react when you get passed in business.  Stop and ask yourself if the reaction is warranted. Is there any value in your reaction?  Are you thinking clearly?

There is no value in passing judgment on the other motorists on the expressway, and there is no value in making business decisions based on how fast others are traveling.  However, there is enormous value in glancing down at your dashboard to make sure you’re going the right speed, on the right road and in the right direction.

To grow your business or your career, resist the desire to give your attention to those around you.  Pull close your ability to proactively check yourself, correct your course or change your speed, but do so deliberately and in regularly scheduled intervals.

Schedule change, plan creativity and preempt stagnation, but do these things because it is in the best interest of all stakeholders, not because the chump down the street pushed your buttons.

Stop spending energy on passing judgment and watching everybody else. Keep your eye on the ball and dig deep to bring out your best.

You do not need to look outside yourself for leadership. You are going to find new talents, new strengths and new ideas flooding your head when you scan the road of business. Take these assets and give them the time and talent they need to grow. But be careful to do no more than get ideas from those around you. Taking your eyes off your own path for too long will lead to a crash. Smile and keep your eyes fixed on the road; you know you’re traveling the road to success.

Discover more ways to bring out your best: visit to www.boltfromtheblue.com and enter the word ROAD into the blueprint box.

Tom Richard is a Toledo-based sales and marketing consultant, keynote speaker and owner of Bolt from the Blue direct response advertising. For more information, visit www.BoltFromTheBlue.com or call (419) 441-1005.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Selling Points, Toledo Business Link.
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