The Guy in the Parking Lot

Last weekend, I checked out a new market. The initial market was a success, with a great turnout and a parking lot of 600 spaces that was completely full.

As I was leaving, there was a gentleman in a silver BMW sitting in his car, with the car in park, waiting for the second spot in the parking lot to open up.

The spot he was waiting for was in the main lane of the parking lot, which meant that cars were backing up behind him in four directions —in front of him, behind him, and from the two lanes to his left. One of the lanes was starting to back up onto a busy road.

First, people started to gently suggest that he should move.

Then, people started to get agitated from within their own cars.

Finally, people started beeping their horns at him, urging him to move.

All the while, for about 7 full minutes, he sat there, unfazed, waiting for his parking spot to open up.

The fact that he was causing a major backup throughout the entire parking lot and into the street did not seem to bother him. He was aware of his impact, but he stayed the course.

Clearly, he did not suffer from any people pleasing tendencies.

When I was finally able to pull out of the parking lot, I couldn't help but think about the idea of ripples. We all create them —in both leadership, and in life.

Our actions have an impact, which can be either positive or negative.

And if we discover that our actions are not having the type of impact we desire, we always have the opportunity to change course.

As leaders, we can consider:

• What type of impact am I having in this moment?

• Is my intent aligned with my impact?

• Are the ripples I'm causing right now positive or negative?

Sometimes our intent is positive, but our impact is not. This is where we can rely on members of our Trusted Few to tell us that this is the case.

What do you think?

Any other strategies that you use to align your intent with your impact?

For the guy in the silver BMW, I sure do hope that the parking spot was worth it.