Stay in Your Lane?

“They’ll tell you to stay in your lane, but the fine print should include: you are also free to travel by whatever mode you want, choose the speed that suits you, pull over when you feel like it, enjoy the scenery, and pick your passengers.”

Tieko Nejon – Educator, Corporate Trainer, Emotional Intelligence Practitioner

We get to define our own lane. Sure, in business settings, there may be operations and process designed for efficiency, and there are roles assigned to ensure proper coverage. But if you are constantly curious, care about your contributions and strive to turn ‘good enough’ into ‘great’…curate your own lane.

I always challenge the teams I lead to think about what they want their name to be associated with. Quality output, innovative ideation, dependability and teamwork, giver of honest and qualified feedback…whatever it is, I encourage them to first identify, then go about building the reputation they want to be perceived by – their ‘lane’.

This requires a commitment to designing the path you wish to walk and staying the course, consistency in delivering above average in every area of your work, intention every day to remain committed and consistent, and putting strategy behind every thought and action.

When you’ve determined your ‘lane’ – it’s critical to PICK YOUR PASSENGERS! The ability to discern what people or projects deserve your time and energy from those that do not is a valuable skill if you put it to action. Your gut will guide you! Be conscious of those around you whose words and actions do not match. Pay attention to their track record related to how they interact with people. You don’t want to carry passengers along who add too much weight.

There will be many uncomfortable moments while crafting your reputation and determining what lane you will occupy. You may make mistakes…you will have detractors. That means you’re doing something right.

Keep going!