I was this close to making a very rude gesture in my rearview mirror. 😬

I was this close to making a very rude gesture in my rearview mirror. 😬

The other day I was driving and stopped at an intersection to let a person and their very small, very adorable dog cross the street.

The driver behind me couldn't see them. All they could see was my car sitting there, doing nothing, blocking the intersection for no apparent reason.

So they started honking. 😡

This is the moment I started thinking about that rude gesture. 😉
But from where they were sitting, I was just some distracted idiot who wouldn't move. From where I was sitting, I had a very good reason. A reason they literally could not see.

I think about this often with clients, because one of the most common things I hear is some version of:

"Why won't they just ___?"

Why won't they just send me the data? Why won't they just make this a priority? Why won't they just [the thing that would make everything easier]?

I've been there. The frustration is real... and it can also be a signal.

When I hear "why won't they just," I hear something underneath it: I cannot see what they can see.

Yes, we can sit there honking our horn in frustration. But what if, instead, we take a moment to get curious? What are they trying to protect? What do they see that we cannot see?

I'm not saying it's easy. If it were easy, you wouldn't still be in this situation. 😏

I'm putting together a one-hour virtual workshop this month built around exactly this: the important relationships in your orbit, and how to have the conversations that actually matter. If that sounds useful, DM me and I'll make sure you're the first to know when it's happening.