One Car Ahead

The inspiration for this post came to me while I was driving in traffic on the Massachusetts Turnpike this morning. 

"They" tell you to stay several car-lengths away from the car in front of you to provide enough time to stop so you don't hit the car if it stops suddenly.  Well, MA drivers don't do this, nor do they respect others who leave that room between the car ahead of them.  I've seen many a rear-ended car during my awful 2-hour each-way commutes on The Pike.  So since I started driving to work again (as opposed to taking the train where I didn't have to worry about any rear ends other than my own falling asleep in the seat!), I've been trying to keep several car-lengths of space between my car and those in front of me.  (The lack of good quality brake pads is also a good reason to do this!)

Today, however, no one else liked this rule of leaving space.  Every time I backed off a car in front of me when we started back up to 70 mph (after the previous 10 mph pace as is notorious in the Boston-destined traffic), another car zipped right into that gap, forcing me to back off even more.  This must've happened at least half a dozen times just in this morning's drive.

So why did I want to write about this?  Mainly for the question, "Why do we feel the need to get one car ahead when we're all going to get to the same place at approximately the same time?"

I harken this to the idea that there is no "I" in "team."  My recent experience as a Learning & Development Coordinator has converted my thinking to wonder why employers don't develop their team members well.  The average employer takes his/her employee's good ideas and touts them as his/her own instead of growing that new-found talent in their employee.  Don't forget, one day when you (as the employer) want to move up that corporate ladder, someone has to take your current place.  If you'd have developed that employee of yours, you'd immediately hire them into your old position and know that they can handle everything you used to do.  Instead, you now have to find a new person (or possibly a less-qualified person than you desire) to fill that spot.  If you're now managing your old position, you've created a nice little problem for yourself.  You could have helped that person below you grow their talent and develop into a great employee to fill your old position when you moved on.

If neglecting your employee gets you "one car ahead," what happens when you all have to get to the final destination?  You have to wait at the rest stop for them to catch up, instead of being able to continue on your journey.  You're better off taking the HOV lane and car-pooling.  Be a little altruistic - you'll then be known as the best manager ever since you've pulled multiple employees up the ladder with you!