Looking in the Mirror

I almost hit a man with my car today. I was waiting at a light in a three lane road. As usual while waiting for the green I was checking my email. I sensed the car to my left begin to move. I quickly put down my phone and took my foot off the brake, beginning to move. My eyes looked up at the same time but only sharply gained focus a few seconds later when I saw a man crossing in front of my car. Well, more like jumping a few feet in the air, arms flailing, screeching, in front of my car. I had scared him as my car jumped toward him walking across the street. Immediately, my blink reaction was to stop the car and glance a t the light. It was green.

My first thought, 'OMG! I almost hit that guy!" was quickly followed by "He was totally crossing on my green light - what was he thinking?" I could have stopped there. And truth be told, most days I probably would have. He was clearly in the wrong. Today, I thought, would it have mattered that he was wrong if I had hit him? Maybe it would have assuaged some guilt, but clearly I would have been devastated by hurting someone. So, instead I thought about what I could have done differently to avoid even coming close to this tragedy again.

My commitment to not looking at my email lasted two more red lights but I did retain the conviction to put the phone down and fully look at the street before venturing out.

Leadership Lesson: Sure many times other people are to blame for bad situations. But it does us no good to stop there. Great leaders ask: What did I do to contribute to the outcome? How can I act differently next time that might make a difference? The emphasis is on the outcome not the blame.