A few weeks ago, I went running jogging/walking at our local YMCA. I decided to jog/walk on the indoor walking track because I hate the treadmill. I walked in, quickly glanced at the directional sign (telling you which direction to walk on which day of the week), and started running. It was nice and quiet for a while, and then an older man started walking. Soon, two other ladies came to join us, followed by another man. Then, a YMCA employee walked in and just stood there for quite some time… probably about 2-3 laps. As I jogged and made my way around the track toward where he was standing, he looked me in the eye with a reprimanding facial expression and simply pointed at the sign. I froze. I quickly gathered my thoughts and asked, “Oh, did you want me to change directions?” Yes, silly! Read the sign. Apparently Sun. looked an awful lot like Sat. when I walked in. It was Saturday, not Sunday, and I had inadvertently led all these people to walk in the wrong direction.
Why did no one say anything?
Why didn’t they do what they knew was right? I’m convinced that at least 1 of those 4 people could read, but am fairly certain that all of them could read. Instead of reading the sign and doing the right thing, they just followed. I can’t judge them. This wasn’t Hidden Camera or What Would You Do? But seriously… c’mon people.
Common sense lesson learned: read the sign. carefully. Leadership lesson learned: Be careful where you lead. Some people will follow, just because. You could be leading them in the wrong direction. Leadership is a great privilege and responsibility. Don’t take it lightly.
Meredith Teasley loves to talk about leadership. In fact, she’s always using silly opportunities like this to think of great leadership lessons for all of us! Meredith wants to improve her 5K time in 2012, so she’s getting back into the habit of running (or jogging) at the track.