Know your limits!

I’ve always considered myself to be a good driver.

After nearly forty years of driving, my licence was clean. I’d never had a single driving offence, not even a speeding ticket.

And then it happened this summer – not one speeding ticket, but two! Both within a few weeks of each other.

So, what had changed? 

Both were on unfamiliar roads in other parts of the country, which felt intuitively like 40mph roads, not 30mph.

I made assumptions about what was appropriate or safe without checking the road signs.

As an executive and team coach, I meet business leaders who do the equivalent of this in their job – they lead using their gut, not reading the warning signs and then drawing unhelpful comparisons with their previous experience.

In my work, I help leaders who are willing to change to increase their awareness of themselves and their colleagues, and to become more versatile in their leadership style, assessing each situation or interaction on its own merits and adapting accordingly.

Back to my driving – I’m already booked on a speed awareness course and I’m sure it’ll challenge some of the assumptions I’ve developed over the last four decades.

In the meantime, be patient with the driver keeping strictly to the speed limit when the road ahead them is totally clear – it could be me!