Upon Further Review...

During a recent drive to Louisiana, I fell victim to something I’ve preached against and warned others about for years. It’s always humbling to realize you’re not following your own advice. 

At one point during the drive, while annoyed and stuck at a traffic light behind sugarcane trucks (if you know, you know), I quickly grabbed my phone to check email.

Okay, for the sake of debate, let’s assume my eyes stayed on the road and my hands remained at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. (Play along with me.)

Halfway down the list of unopened emails was one from someone I’d been waiting to hear back from.

I quickly opened the email and speed-read it as I expertly navigated the bad roads and slow-moving trucks. (Again, just play along with me.)

Their message annoyed me. It had a dismissive tone that set me off. I began commenting out loud, using unfortunate language.

My wife looked over and said, “Good grief. What has you that mad? And…why are you reading email while driving?” 

I told her about the jerk I was dealing with and the annoying email I had just received.

She replied, “Well, for goodness’ sake, don’t try to respond now.” Apparently, she’s not as confident as I am in my ability to steer with my knees.

About half an hour later, I pulled over to get gas and visit a convenience store. As I pumped gas and my wife picked up a few items, I decided to fire off an equally abrasive reply to the sender.

I reopened the email to reread it and make sure I nailed this person point by point on what they wrote.

The only issue was, upon reading it more carefully—and in a slightly less agitated state of mind—the email was nothing like I first thought.

It was actually polite and not dismissive at all.

I had to read it again… slowly… to convince myself I was seeing what I hadn’t seen before.

I shook my head and reflect on the times I’ve advised groups of people that if you walk around looking to be upset, you’re gonna find ample opportunities.

There’s always something to be upset and/or offended by if you truly put your mind to it.

It would be unrealistic to pretend there won’t be times when we’re tired, annoyed, or distracted.

However, it’s important to recognize when we might be reading things into the words of customers, coworkers, or supervisors that aren’t actually there.

"Why's" Communication

I was recently asked to produce a short presentation specifically for new frontline employees at a number of community banks.

While gathering my thoughts and preparing the content, I realized how rarely I’ve had the chance to directly address this type of group in recent years.

Many moons ago, the majority of the training I conducted across the country was geared toward customer-facing employees.

However, over the past decade or so, most of my work has been with middle and upper management.

Reflecting on some of the major differences between those groups, one that isn’t often discussed came to mind.

When addressing groups of middle and senior managers, beyond the obvious differences in experience, you’re predominantly speaking to people who have actively chosen and committed to careers in banking.

Even if these individuals leave their current organization, most remain in financial services.

They have skin in the game.

Beyond having experience and skill sets suited to the industry, they tend to be people who appreciate the tangible opportunities it offers for personal and professional growth.

Many of these individuals rose through lower-level positions and understand that the experiences they encountered—both positive and negative—helped prepare them for the positions they now hold. 

A basic fact of life and business is that good people only begin reaching their full potential as they navigate and overcome uncertainty, confusion, setbacks, and difficult challenges.

You can train and prepare someone nine ways to Sunday for certain situations, but life always seems to find new ways to surprise us.

It's important to help new, especially younger, teammates understand the “why” behind what they are asked to do, along with the how, where, and when.

Committing to developing the tools and gaining the experience needed for future success—and recognizing that the process won’t always be fun or easy—requires a clear understanding of why the goal is worth the effort. 

An even more important message for new team members is that whatever your long-term goals may be, the surest way to reach them is to be as good as you can be where you are now.

Tomorrow’s opportunities arise from the efforts you give today.