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Barrage of Instructions that Drives Me Nuts!
(Well of course, those aren't my hands, and this isn't my car... not yet. This is the interior of my dream car!)I'm taking up driving lessons to get my car liscence, and sometimes I get very stressed up during my lessons with my driving instructor.
And that isn't necessarily normal for me. One of the things that I pride myself for is that I don't usually fret and panic when things happen. My girlfriend tells me that she can usually tell how dire a situation is by using my calmness as a measure: the calmer I am, the more screwed up things really are!
But this driving thing, its a different ball game altogether. My instructor, who hails from the military early in his career, likes to give multiple instructions in quick succession.
"Speed up, change lane - ok, the engine is revving too hard, switch to 3rd gear... ok watch out and brake" - his hand starts holding on to the steering wheel as he speaks - "you need to turn mor- Kelly, I said switch to the third gear - WATCH OUT FOR THE TAXI IN FRONT!" All that in the same breath. And while my mind is racing to keep up with his instructions, my heart is pumping. That's why I wear sunglasses when I drive: so people can't see my silly expression when my eyes are on the verge of popping out!
It's a miracle that I haven't gotten into any accidents yet. Thank God!
I know perfectly how to switch gears, and I also know how to change lanes too, thank you very much. But when all those instructions come together, they become a big mess, and being the student taking instructions, I hardly have time to react.
And sometimes that's how people give instructions. They tend to micro-manage everything that their subordinates or charges do. So they dictate every single thing that needs to be done. But, like the experience I had with my driving instructor, this is exactly what's going to cause their subordinates to mess up!
I feel that people in leadership positions must learn how to give instructions with a little finesse. I remember when I was much younger in business, I used to micro-manage my team and tell them exactly what to do. There was no room for discrepancies, and when something didn't turn out the way I wanted, I'd get upset.
I acted this way because, being a new leader, I felt responsible for everything that happens to the group, and I was afraid I'd mess up - so I started having a hand in just about everything.
Yet when I do this, I take away the chance for my team mates to exercise their own judgement in a situation. Its hard to deliver results while acting according to someone else's will. Needless to say, none of these team members are around in my organisation anymore.
I still continue to anticipate panic and frantic-ness in my driving lessons. Maybe its time to ask my driving instructor to ease up on his barrage of instructions, and trust me to exercise my judgement for once. That way, I can learn much faster.
posted by Kelly Lim @ Wednesday, December 07, 2005
1 comments
1 Comments:
SuperSucker
wahahahahah.... I got the same instructor too! hee*
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