This Way Up: Some Signs to Success

Yvonne Battle-Felton

June 14, 2010

Lately, I have been driving to the Owings Mills Executive Suite Center a few days a week.

I pay attention to the vehicles behind me, the colors of lights, the lines on the road. Everything has its place.

Take signs.

Stop signs belong where they are most effective: where I will see them and stop.

The stop signs around the center are painted on crème colored rectangles.

I notice those I am facing and while I suspect every crème colored rectangle is a stop sign in disguise, I can’t be sure.

Today I was driving down 695 in awe of a beige Toyota whose owner was apparently anti-turn signal.

I interpret turn signals as a want to go, not a right to go, but still whipping in and out of lanes, the use of turn signals is not optional.

While his using turn signals did not mean cars around him would yield to his whims, it did mean they would realize he had ambitions of being elsewhere.

His not using signals meant he had to weave in and out of traffic; watch for police cars; and maintain a speed faster than the rest of us while anticipating our speeds, lane changes, and degrees of aggressiveness.

He had a lot of work to do.

Without indicating how he was getting there, I assume the driver got to his destination—if not safely, eventually.

In life, we seem to make things harder for ourselves when we hope others will anticipate our needs.

In business and in life, when our destination is success, do we need to let others know where we’re going?

Follow through. Commitment. Customer Service. Quality.

If you network, build clients, have a reputation or hope to, I think it is necessary.

Working hard. Studying harder. Asking questions. Listening. Making mistakes. Learning from them…

There are signs to success, is your signal on?

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