Not Far Enough
It was a brisk fall morning, and I left home with the intention of getting to the office earlier than usual. Turning onto one of the busier roads on my way to work, I soon caught up with the traffic in front of me. The cars in both lanes were stopped for some reason.
Looking around, I saw no evidence of an accident, no police or emergency vehicles. Finally, after several minutes of waiting, I got out of the car and walked over to where the hold-up had begun.
Standing somewhat dazed near the center lane was a large female raccoon. She circled the highway very slowly and seemed very frightened. I walked up to her slowly, thinking perhaps I could pick her up and take her off the road. She snapped and hissed at me. It quickly became obvious that this course of action would result in my being bitten or rather severely clawed. And, the possibility of having blood drawn by an angry, possibly rabid raccoon did not appeal to me.
So I did the next best thing. I gently nudged her off of the road using the side of my shoe. After we reached the side of the road, I guided her another five feet away for good measure.
I got back in my car; the traffic resumed speed; people honked and waved; and I went to work feeling really good. It was rather like my daily affirmation, doing a good deed. I didn’t think of the incident any more that day.
That night at the family dinner table, after the usual topics of discussion were exhausted, my wife asked, “Did you happen to drive by the railroad crossing and see that big dead raccoon alongside the road?” She was talking about my raccoon, the one I had rescued. How could this have happened? I told her about my morning adventure, and we sat quietly for a bit, mourning the loss. You can’t help but feel closer to an animal you’ve touched. I even remembered how I had thought about moving the raccoon further off from the road into the trees. But, I hadn’t wanted to take the time.
This experience stays with me today as a metaphor for leadership. Successful leaders manage to show the way for the people they lead (sometimes know as followers) to another level or place where the followers want or need to go. The trouble is, sometimes we don’t lead them far enough.
