Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving.
Speaker 1: This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host
Speaker 1: Paul fella Aledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode four eighty eight. I was watching the news
Speaker 2: recently and these numbers caught my attention. The average person
Speaker 2: in New York spends one hundred and two hours a
Speaker 2: year in traffic. In Paris, the average commuter spends ninety
Speaker 2: seven hours. That's nearly four full days of your life
Speaker 2: each year sitting in gridlock. Now, let's be real. Traffic
Speaker 2: is frustrating, It tests our patients, it robs us of time,
Speaker 2: and it rarely feels like anything good can come from it.
Speaker 2: But here's the question, as a leader, what do you
Speaker 2: do with that time you sit behind the wheel, fuming
Speaker 2: at the break lights in front of you? Or do
Speaker 2: you turn that unplanned downtime into a leadership advantage? So
Speaker 2: let's explore that idea in this episode. First, traffic is
Speaker 2: a laboratory for patients. Leaders live in the fast lane
Speaker 2: of decision making and problem solving, but in traffic, you're
Speaker 2: forced to slow down. You can't control the car in
Speaker 2: front of you or the sea of break lights stretching
Speaker 2: into the horizon. You only control your own reaction, and
Speaker 2: if you train yourself to stay calm in that moment,
Speaker 2: you're practicing one of the most critical leadership skills, controlling
Speaker 2: your emotions under pressure. Second, traffic is prime time for
Speaker 2: personal development. Think about it. If you're stuck for an
Speaker 2: hour a day, that's five hours a week, twenty hours
Speaker 2: a month, more than two hundred hours a year. That's
Speaker 2: a master class worth of time. You could listen to
Speaker 2: audiobooks on leadership podcasts that sharpen your thinking, or even
Speaker 2: foreign language lessons. Traffic can be your mobile classroom. In Third,
Speaker 2: traffic is space for reflection. How many times have you
Speaker 2: told yourself you're too busy to think, to plan, to strategize.
Speaker 2: Sitting behind the wheel can become your thinking chair. You
Speaker 2: can mentally walk through your day, solve a lingering problem,
Speaker 2: or prepare how you'll lead the next tough conversation. Some
Speaker 2: of my best leadership clarity has come in silence behind
Speaker 2: the wheel. Fourth traffic can strengthen your communication. Call a
Speaker 2: mentor check in with your team, voice record notes or
Speaker 2: reminders for yourself, or reach out to that one contact
Speaker 2: you've been meaning to reconnect with. A ten minute call
Speaker 2: in traffic could reopen a door that leads to a
Speaker 2: major opportunity. In fifth, traffic can be for recovery. Leadership
Speaker 2: drains your mental energy. Sometimes the best use of traffic
Speaker 2: is not filling it with noise or tasks, but allowing
Speaker 2: your brain to breathe. Roll the windows down, put on
Speaker 2: music that relaxes you, sit in silence, breathe deeply, because
Speaker 2: when you show up at the office or at home,
Speaker 2: you'll arrive sharper, calmer, and ready to lead. Now, let
Speaker 2: me make this reel for you. If you spend one
Speaker 2: hundred and two hours a year in traffic, like the
Speaker 2: average New Yorker, and you dedicate half of that to
Speaker 2: learning in the other half to recovery, you would walk
Speaker 2: away with fifty one hours of personal growth and fifty
Speaker 2: one hours of mental recharge. That's the equivalent of taking
Speaker 2: a full week long leadership retreat every year without ever
Speaker 2: leaving your car. Traffic will never be your choice, but
Speaker 2: how you use it is. That's always your choice. The
Speaker 2: break lights in front of you don't have to be
Speaker 2: wasted time. They can be fuel for your growth, your recovery,
Speaker 2: and your leadership edge. So the next time you're stuck,
Speaker 2: instead of gripping the wheel and frustration, remember this. Leaders
Speaker 2: always find a way to turn every red light into
Speaker 2: a green light for growth. This has been the seven
Speaker 2: minute Leadership Podcast and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.