Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories.
It was a normal day and I was driving in normal traffic. The light turned red up ahead, so I stopped and was waiting at the stoplight behind a long line of cars. There wasn’t any kind of urgency on my part, and I wasn’t trying to get somewhere by a particular time, but when the light turned green and nobody seemed to be going, I started to get a little frustrated. I started having those thoughts in my head like, “Oh come on, why isn’t anyone going, get moving people!“ But then I saw and heard an emergency vehicle approaching the intersection, one that I had not been able to see and hear from where I was in the line of cars. There was a reason why no one was moving, but because of my vantage point, I was not initially aware of that reason, and I allowed it to affect my attitude and my response. Immediately, I realized that the lack of movement was justified, and the problem was simply that I did not have all the information.
The next thing that came to my mind was the recognition that this was a tremendous example for life and leadership. God always has a plan and a purpose, but we don’t always see what he is doing, nor do we see the end intended down the road. We can be quick to react and jump to conclusions without knowing the whole story, and when that happens, it can affect our mood and our behavior, and can cause damage or lead to poor decision-making.
It made me think of Proverbs 18:13, which says, “He who answers the matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” I first wrote this verse down to keep on my desk when I was doing marriage and family counseling years ago, as a reminder to listen to both sides of the story and to try to get the whole picture before preparing a plan. Then I used the same verse for years in my roles in education with student issues, parent issues, and employee issues, again to remind me to try to hear the whole story before jumping to conclusions and making a decision. I have been guilty of responding too quickly before I knew the information that I needed to know, and it has never gone well. Just like sitting at that traffic light, jumping to a conclusion in my own mind about what was happening before I knew all the information caused me to have the wrong conclusion, which in turn affected my response and behavior.
So, the lesson on leadership that was illustrated in this little life event is the importance of pausing to get the whole story before jumping to a conclusion. First, find out what happened (and if it involves people, be sure to hear all sides) and then determine what your next steps need to be. And always be humble enough to allow for the fact that God may be doing something for a reason, and He just wants you to trust Him without getting ahead of His plan. The lesson on leadership from this little thing in life? First, get the whole story.