 There we were in the desert, somewhere near the city of Needles, CA. No gas, no food, no water. Sure I could be mad at my friend Rod; his failure to notify me of the turn-off for gas had landed us in this horrible predicament. (Click here to view Part 1 of the story). Yet, as the bike spurted out its last bit of fumes, I realized that getting upset with him wasn’t going to help the situation. I had to take on a new level of responsibility to make sure we advanced cross-country in a timely manner. As friends, we had never needed to discuss our roles. However, as we huddled around the dead Yamaha Virago talking about our options, you could sense the change in momentum. Rod was now relying on me to make fair, reasonable decisions that affected the outcome and success of our journey. I was taking on the role and responsibility of the leader.
After kicking around some ideas, we decided on a plan. Rod would stay with the bike and I would try to hitch-hike to the nearest gas station and back. Fortunately, it did not take long for us to hear the roar of an approaching vehicle, not just any vehicle, we could see it was a pick-up truck! We immediately scrambled to the side of the road and stuck out our thumbs. The pick-up rolled to a stop on the side of the road. A man leaned out the driver’s side window and asked us where we needed to go. We explained we were on our way to Baltimore, but could use a ride to the next town for gas.
“Well, I’m heading to Flagstaff,” He said, “You’re welcome to come if you want. We can put your bike in the back.” Delighted and relieved, we accepted his offer and loaded the bike into the back of the truck. Then we jumped in the front seat and headed off down the dusty highway.
As the pick-up truck rumbled into Flagstaff, I kept thinking what dumb luck we had. Rod’s mistake had originally been a set-back, but the outcome it produced was better than the original result required. In a few hours we had shaved off nearly 2o0 miles, something we could never have accomplished so quickly on our bike.
For me, the lesson of this story is twofold. First, it taught me the importance of sharing responsibility and not getting upset with those who let you down. It is better to understand where you (as a leader) can improve, and how you can help your teammates avoid making the same mistakes in the future. Second, this personal story touches upon the transition from a peer to a leadership role. For many budding leaders in the business world this may not be a smooth changeover. I believe the number one rule to follow is to leverage your current relationships to create an environment of mutual success. I didn’t disregard Rod’s ideas; we worked together to compose a plan to rectify our situation. In the end, both Rod and I felt accomplished in making the most out of our situation.
I felt confident that this situation had helped clear up our expectations set for each other and we would be prepared for anything….or so I thought.
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