to learning about my strengths. I learned that I have more courage than I believed.  I also learned that if there is a choice between being true to myself or going along with the masses, I choose me.  

Do you know how you will react in tough situations?  Would you be a whistle blower like Sherron Watkins, who boldly gave Enron an opportunity to stop the shenanigans?  Would you be a Norma Rae? Or would you live a life of quiet desperation? 

I recently had that choice within an organization.  I enjoyed many of the people I met, feeling the beginnings of a great number of friendships.  I felt like my natural management and coaching ability would be able to truly benefit those I worked with and for.  But there was one person who failed to try to connect with me, who failed to share his vision, who failed to get to know me.  My own attempts fell on deaf ears.  I chose the honest approach and asked for help, and was rebuffed.

Was I wrong to have spoken up?  I had been warned by many that one does not speak up about these things in this organization; it is taboo. I was also warned that that is who he is and that I would never get a vision or other context from him and just make it up on my own.  I was warned to lower my expectations, or better yet, remove all expectations where he was concerned.

As I look back on this situation that seems so surreal to me, I believe I made the best choices for me.  To have other employees share these warnings with me and to see the incongruity between who the person was in our first meeting to who he is as a leader, I made the right choice to speak up and ask questions. He had a choice to share his vision and who he is as a leader.  By not doing so, I will be the better for it in the long run in terms of other assignments, other jobs.

Have you ever made an unpopular decision but knew it was the right thing to do for yourself? I would love to hear about it! Anissa

I would like to share this compliments of the author, David J. Pollay.  It is an amazing column that bears sharing and repeating! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, Anissa

 

Beware of Garbage Trucks™                                                  

by David J. Pollay
 

How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood?  Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss, or an insensitive employee ruin your day?  Unless you’re the Terminator, you’re probably set back on your heels.  However, the mark of your success is how quickly you can refocus on what’s important in your life. 

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson.  And I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab. Here’s what happened.  

I hopped in a taxi, and we took off for Grand Central Station.  We were driving in the right lane when all of a sudden, a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us.  My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, the car skidded, the tires squealed, and at the very last moment our car stopped just one inch from the other car’s back-end. 

I couldn’t believe it.  But then I couldn’t believe what happened next.  The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident, whipped his head around and he started yelling bad words at us.  How do I know?  Ask any New Yorker, some words in New York come with a special face.  And for emphasis, he threw in a one finger salute, as if his words were not enough. 

But then here’s what really blew me away.  My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy.  And I mean, he was friendly.  So, I said, “Why did you just do that!?  This guy could have killed us!”  And this is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, “The Law of the Garbage Truck™.”  He said:

Many people are like garbage trucks.  They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment.  As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it.  And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you. 

So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally.  Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on.  Believe me.  You’ll be happier.

So I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me?  And how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street?  It was then that I said, “I don’t want their garbage and I’m not going to spread it anymore.”  

I began to see Garbage Trucks.  Like in the movie “The Sixth Sense,” the little boy said, “I see Dead People.”  Well now “I see Garbage Trucks.”  I see the load they’re carrying.  I see them coming to dump it.  And like my taxi driver, I don’t take it personally; I just smile, wave, wish them well, and I move on. 

One of my favorite football players of all time is Walter Payton.  Every day on the football field, after being tackled, he would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground.  He never dwelled on a hit.  Payton was ready to make the next play his best.  Over the years the best players from around the world in every sport have played this way:  Tiger Woods, Nadia Comaneci, Muhammad Ali, Bjorn Borg, Chris Evert, Michael Jordan, and Pele are just some of those players.  And the most inspiring leaders have lived this way:  Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Ghandi, and Martin Luther King. 

See, Roy Baumeister, a psychology researcher from Florida State University, found in his extensive research that you remember bad things more often than good things in your life.  You store the bad memories more easily, and you recall them more frequently.   

So the odds are against you when a Garbage Truck comes your way.  But when you follow The Law of the Garbage Truck™, you take back control of your life.  You make room for the good by letting go of the bad. 

The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting.  The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client.  And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day.  All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about. 

The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.  

What about you?  What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?

Here’s my bet:  You’ll be happier.   

 

David J. Pollay, MAPP, is a syndicated columnist, television host, and an internationally sought after speaker and seminar leader.  David is the founder and president of The Momentum Project, a strengths-based training and consulting organization.