Last night my family had to immediately leave a meeting at church because my daughter had become nauseous. We were in separate cars but I caught up with them about a half-mile from the church…or so I thought.
I followed the car closely because I was concerned for my daughter. About 4 miles from the church the car turned on its right turn signal and pulled into Publix. I thought, “Oh no, my daughter is about to get sick.” I followed closely as the car then drove past a grassy area and I thought that was strange. “If she was going to get sick that is a perfect place.” Then it began to drive slowly around a Sunday-evening, half-full parking lot. I thought, “What is my wife doing?”
The car then pulled back on the main road as I continued to follow closely. We were now on a four-lane road and the car was going very slowly as it pulled over into the left lane. I thought, “That’s strange. If Anna gets sick, she needs to be in the right lane so can just lean out of car.”
I then pulled up and discovered, as you’ve probably guessed by now, that even though it was the same make, model, and color, this was not my wife’s car!!!! I had scared this poor woman half-to-death. I quickly sped past her to give her some immediate comfort and get me out of there.
There are three leadership lessons from this embarrassing situation:
- Appearances Are Often Deceiving – We often make judgements about people based upon outward appearances. Leaders should always take the time needed to learn what is on the inside of a person.
- The Power Of Proximity – Even though I thought I was caring deeply for someone by following closely, I was actually frightening another human being. As leaders, we need to be aware of how we steward proximity. We may care deeply about a person or situation, but our constant presence may be micro-managing at best, and frightening at worst.
- We Can Be Easily Seduced By Counterfeits – There are things in this world that look like the real thing but are poor substitutes. Whether it is love, pleasure, prestige, fun, money, sex, purpose, or meaning, too many leaders exchange the truth for a lie.
In a extremely unusual way, this experience of following too closely to the wrong car reminded me that the only thing that satisfies in this life is Jesus Christ.
Leaders, if you’re considering today making a decision that you know to be completely wrong, please don’t. It’s a lie and will not satisfy you.
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