By Lynette Lewis
….well almost.
I was hurrying to the ladies’ room while watching over yonder at the luggage carousel to see if my bags were up yet, not realizing til the last second that it said MEN on the door I was about to walk through.
I quickly diverted myself at which point I heard laughter behind me and a female voice saying, “I was following you right in there figuring, ‘She knows where she’s going!’”
“Well at least we would’ve had each other,” I said, laughing too, at the thought of it.
While waiting for the bags a bit later, I reflected on the many times we simply follow the crowd…at intersections while waiting to cross, at work where certain attitudes or talk invariably take on a crowd mentality. In so many moments it’s easy to just emulate the guy in front of us rather than wake up, watch, and do what’s right.
People are following us and we’re following them. Which calls for more “break-from-the-crowd” moments where one different attitude, new perspective, or departure from routine may just make a difference.
I worked for a man one time who was always criticizing someone. He did it with sort of a laugh and humorous jab, but it bothered me a lot and I refused to enter in, though for brownie points it probably would not have hurt. Fact is his negativity did hurt, and with plenty of hurt to go around in most work cultures, why add more?
Several years later a friend started working for him and when she mentioned my name he said, “Oh that Lynette, she will never cut anyone down,” and I was reminded that often we are making impressions for good, even when we feel like a lone ranger and wonder if we’re odd man out….out of our minds, out of sync, and out of line.
So think for yourself today, follow your gut, and remember you may just be saving someone else from a wrong path with disappointing results, and even better, you’ll be raising the bar with lasting impressions.
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Lynette Lewis is an author, business consultant and an inspiring speaker. Her popular book, Climbing the Ladder in Stilettos, has been published in several languages receiving recognition from numerous sources including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, and The Dallas Morning News. She is also an author of a relationships book called Remember the Roses. www.lynettelewis.com
She followed me into the men’s restroom