Leading Change

"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself." -Henry Ward Beecher

You have most likely seen it happen many times. It may have been at work, at the market, or in school. It comes in many different forms, many different versions and many times in subtle ways.

One way to describe it is a lack of leadership in setting a good example. Or you might see it as demanding of others but not of yourself.

One example I could use is while driving on the road. Recently I was driving down the freeway, probably in too big of a hurry and maybe it had been a long day. One particular car had me "pinned in" the far right lane, driving just fast enough so that I could not move over due to a large truck.

Frustrating as it was, I soon looked closer and on the car was one of those bumper stickers which read, "How's my driving?. All I could think of at first was, "stupidly". Okay, I might have thought a few other words also.

As we kept moving along, it made me wonder how is "MY" driving? Was I demanding greater perfection from others then I would demand of myself? Were my own driving habits a bad example or having a negative cascading effect upon others? I eased off and ended up with a much more relaxing few more miles home.

It would be interesting if we had a bumper sticker on our back.

The question is, will you lead the change in your life to be better? Will you demand more of yourself before you demand it of others. How is your driving?