Have you been on the Mumbai–Pune Expressway? It’s a beautiful stretch of road, about 100 kilometres long, with the Western Ghats providing a scenic backdrop. It’s one of the nicest stretches to drive on in India. And, as I learned while on the road one night, it can also teach you a lesson or two about leadership and human behaviour.
While the drive during the day allows you to savour the many shades of green as you cruise along, the drive at night can become a little more mysterious as you try and make sense of the silhouettes. And the drive at night can be much slower too—punctuated by the many trucks that seem to be crawling ahead of you, struggling to pull their weight over the hills of Lonavala.
On a night-time drive sometime ago, there was something dangerously amiss about the trucks that caught my attention. Many of those heavy vehicles had virtually no functioning tail lamps. So it often happened that from behind, you could not tell there was a vehicle in front of you—until you got perilously close! Interestingly enough, all the trucks had functioning headlights, so the truck driver could clearly see what was ahead of him. But having no rear lights meant that the folks driving behind him had a problem. The truck driver or the owner, in his wisdom and cost-cutting prudence, had focused on the light ahead because he needed it. And ignored the tail lamps possibly rationalizing that it was someone else’s problem! The headlights were something he could see. The tail lamps were out of sight, and out of mind.
And that set me thinking. In our lives, do we all behave like those truck drivers? Do we do all the stuff that’s good for us—fix our headlights—and ignore what might impact others and be of help to them? Do we forget to check if our tail lamps are functioning? Do we get caught up in achieving our goals and not bother about helping other people achieve theirs?
Good leaders make sure they have great headlights—and excellent tail lamps too. They recognize that there are folks behind them who need to see those tail lamps as they drive forth on their journey. It’s a poor leader who is solely focused on his own bosses, constantly looking up, and forgetting about the people he leads, the people who are counting on the tail lamps.
Not having tail lamps can cause an accident and interrupt the journey. And when that happens, it doesn’t really matter whether you get hit from the front or from the back. Not having functioning tail lamps is as bad for the truck as it is for the vehicles behind it.
Think of the tail lamps in your life as those acts and little things that help other people more than they help you. Make sure you have an attitude that recognizes the utility of those tail lights. And think of the tail lamps as the things that you know exist but don’t always see. Just because you can’t see them—or won’t be around to see them—does not make them any less important.
Several sales managers are guilty of bending, nay breaking, the system to achieve their targets. They are bright, ambitious folks, target-driven to a fault, and unfortunately, find themselves too caught up in achieving their own short-term goals. So to ensure that their stint is marked by record-breaking numbers, they beat the system, damage distributor and trade relationships, overshoot their budgets, put undue pressure on their sales teams and destroy morale—but they sure get their targets for the quarter, or even the year. They get promoted and move on to a better role or a new job. Their focus is solely on the headlights and not on the tail lamps.
And then someone else comes in to take their place, saddled with the task of repairing the damage. The sales manager who caused it all thought he wouldn’t be around to see it, so why bother! Truth is, word soon spreads that he is a truck without tail lamps!
When you are not achieving your goals, the feedback is instantaneous. You can see yourself falling behind. It’s like that with your headlights—when one of them malfunctions—you know it as soon as you drive in the dark.
But that’s not the case with your tail lights. If you don’t check regularly, it could be a long time before you figure out they have stopped working. And chances are, none of the drivers behind you will overtake you to let you know that your tail lights aren’t working.
While on the subject of overtaking, here’s another thought. You have the bullies and the blockers on the road—you know, the ones who don’t allow folks behind them to overtake them. And then you have the other drivers who recognize that someone behind them is clearly driving at a pace that’s faster, and make way for him. As a leader, be like that! Recognize when a follower is making rapid progress and is ready to get ahead. Don’t be a blocker. Use your tail lights to indicate that it is okay for him to overtake and get ahead! Chances are, the follower will be grateful to you forever!
So as a good leader, make it a habit to check your tail lights! Does the team see you as caring for them? Can they see the path you are leading them on? Do they see the light ahead? That’s what good leaders are all about.
You have a choice. You could either be the ‘headlights only’ leader, focusing solely on who’s ahead of him, or you could be the guy with the headlights and the tail lamps, who knows where he is going and cares for those following him. Which would you rather be?
As you drive along on the leadership journey, do occasionally pause to check and make sure your vehicle is in good shape. And when you do that, make sure that both the headlights and the tail lamps are in working condition.
Good leaders make sure they have great headlights—and excellent tail lamps too. They recognize that there are folks behind them who need to see those tail lamps as they drive forth on their journey. It’s a poor leader who is solely focused on his own bosses, constantly looking up, and forgetting about the people he leads, the people who are counting on the tail lamps. Think of the tail lamps in your life as those acts and little things that help other people more than they help you.