Are You Choosing The Correct Lane?
For all the highway drivers out there, you know being in the correct lane is important. You would also quickly recognize that you can’t be in more than one lane at a time.
If you’re halfway in between, things aren’t so good. Not for you, and not for the other drivers sharing the road.
In business or in your career, many people talk about the idea of staying in your lane. It is a metaphorical expression mostly targeted at keeping a specific focus and not being spread or scattered to thin.
Focus is important, so is knowledge and expertise. I love the entrepreneur spirit of businesses, people, and ideas that are on the move, but is there a time to stay in your lane?
Yes, of course there is.
Which Lane?
I can read a lot medical information online. I can even manage a cut on my finger with some peroxide, antibacterial ointment, and a Band-Aid. I can tell friends to take a couple of Tylenol capsules and get some rest.
It doesn’t mean I can hang out a shingle and self-proclaim I’m a medical doctor.
Balancing my checkbook and managing a personal budget I’ve been doing since my teens.
In business, I’ve been responsible to manage multiple tens of millions of dollars. I have a solid understanding of an income statement and balance sheet. I can even explain it to others.
It doesn’t mean that I am a CPA and I should hang out a shingle and start an accounting practice.
Correct Lane
Today it is easy to hang out a shingle for just about anything. Buy a domain name, put up a website, create a Twitter and Instagram account and self-proclaim that you’re an expert and open for business.
Unless it is your focus. Unless you are committed to operating in that lane you may be better off staying positioned in the lane you are in.
Halfway in between doesn’t work out so well. Not for you, and not for others sharing the road.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
