For about 10 years I drove a white mini-van with 200,000 miles on it. Some of you may even remember that beautiful car. My mini-van took me everywhere, into the depths of Mexico to the mountains of Tahoe. One night the van was piled full of friends. We were having a great time as we looked for a particular location that we had never been to. I turned down a street with lots of people hanging out on the side walk. They all started to wave at us which we thought was interesting but waved back. Soon the headlights from oncoming cars began honking at us as we drove down the street. Once again, focused on our own enjoyment didn’t think much of the honking as I added the mini-van honk to the other fellow honkers. As I continued to drive down the street I realized that the headlights were swerving out of our way. Finally I snapped out of my self indulged state to realize that I had turned the wrong way on a one way street. All these people weren’t really interested in saying hello to us, they were just trying to inform an idiot driver that he was driving the wrong way on a one way street.
Life is full of choices and sometimes we make the wrong choice, say the wrong thing or behave in the wrong manner. Making choices becomes increasingly difficult as our leadership responsibilities grow. As leaders, we will have people following our lead, trusting our lead and looking to us for direction. Some of these people are our family, friends, students, athletes and fellow team members at work. We won’t always make the best choice as we lead, which may take us in the wrong direction. However I can confidently say we will never go wrong leading from a place of encouragement. When difficult conversations arise and things seem to be heading the wrong direction, just pause and find a place to add some encouragement to the person you are speaking with. This is like pulling over to the side of the road when you are going the wrong direction and making a u-turn in the right direction.
How would your life and leadership improve if you were known as being a phenomenal encourager? How might the difficult relationships in your life change if you committed, no matter what, to be an encourager? How would being an encourager help you deal with the most difficult, hard-nosed person?
You may be heading down a one way street in the wrong direction with people in your life, but pull a u-turn by becoming a phenomenal encourager. It is never too late to become a great encourager, because each one of us needs more encouragement.
