You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want. –Zig Ziglar
The idyllic hamlet of Chevy Chase, Maryland has a little something for everyone. Safe neighborhoods and friendly citizens. Boutique shops and unique restaurants. Green parks and plentiful outside space to walk and enjoy. I grew up just outside the border of the town (in the “means streets” of Washington, DC!) but spent countless afternoons and weekends rolling my banana-seat bike over the tree-lined sidewalks to visit friends, go to football practices, and generally mill about town.
I now find myself driving back in those same neighborhoods, as my youngest daughter has so many friends who live there. Growing up, I never noticed the narrow streets and the number of parked cars lining the thoroughfares. Always an adventure! It takes both tolerance and patience to navigate the local traffic, as everyone needs to work together to pass through. For the most part, people anticipate when to pull over and when to pass. But every now and then, an inexperienced driver, or a driver from out of town, throws a wrench in the system.
Last weekend, as my daughter and I snaked through countless neighborhoods on my unpaid Uber run, we came upon a particularly skinny street with cars parked on either side. The person in front of us pulled behind another parked car to let someone pass, and then dutifully eased back out into the flow of traffic. Just then a car with New Jersey plates (not that there’s anything wrong with that!) came barreling down the street toward us. He clearly was a Chevy Chase rookie! The guy in front of me was stuck, with no way to go forward and no place to pull over.
Our New Jersey friend was under the false impression that he was traveling in the correct direction on a one-way street. He leaned on his horn as he screamed out the window.
“Hey dude, you’re going the WRONG way!”
The guy in front of me remained calm and leaned out his window.
“Uh, hey dude! It’s a two-way street!”
The New Jersey driver quickly realized his error and reversed course, and the entire encounter passed without further incident. But it was a good reminder that we should all be operating as though every street in life is a two-way street!
Success Begets Success
In our work lives, we have metrics to hit and lofty goals to attain. We all want to be successful and productive. But we can’t view every road as a one-way street. Achieving victory at the cost of others rarely translates to long-term prosperity. Most people can sense when they are being used or manipulated. And they will rightfully shy away from people who are only out for their own personal gain. Parasitic relationships rarely drive team success. Most one-way alliances collapse in failure.
We have to realize that personal success is often a by-product of helping other people achieve success. In sales, we have to focus on removing obstacles for our clients and solving their problems. The more prosperous they become, the more we can enjoy the fruits of the relationship. In business development, the more positive relationships we can introduce to our customers, the more we in turn will flourish. As entrepreneurs, the more we can create a positive culture and support our employees, the more our overall business enterprise will thrive. As managers, the more successful we can make our individual team members, the more we will advance our own careers. Everything is tied together. Success begets success. We have to conduct our business life (and our personal life!) on a two-way street!
Resilience is Driven By Our Inner Circle
And this is even more important when the tide turns against us. At some point, all of us will hit a losing streak. The numbers won’t be there or the business will take a dip. If we have built our career foundation at the expense of others, it is much more difficult to recover. Resilience is driven by community and a strong inner circle. If we have spent our lives focused on the success of others, we will find strength through these cherished relationships. We will find the courage to move forward and try new approaches to our problems. We will find hope in the consolation and concern of others. If our network is built on a two-way street, we will be buoyed by those we have helped in the past and find the toughness to overcome any setback.
Of course, we don’t help others expecting something in return. But it is a natural by-product. Eventually, everything we give will come back to us. And it will have such an enormously positive impact on our work and personal lives. So don’t worry so much. We may stall or hit a roadblock. But people will come from all directions to help. Just as we would help them. Life is a two-way street!