Am I a Bridge or a Roadblock?

Continuing our discussion on purpose, I think one of the central questions that we have to ask ourselves is whether we're a bridge or a roadblock. Bridges are structures that carry us over obstacles and make the path safe and obvious. Roadblocks are obstacles in and of themselves; they stop us, they make us find an alternate path, and they usually make our route longer and less efficient.

Do we enable things to get done and contribute in a positive fashion to them being completed, or are we a barricade that stops progress? Are we an obstacle that others have to find their way around? In the workplace, we have both.

As an attorney, there are times when I have to serve as gatekeeper and be the adult in the room who says no to some ideas. But even when saying no, I try to find a path forward and suggest viable alternative paths. In other words, even when I have to say no to something and potentially be a roadblock, I try to offer a bridge--a constructive, plausible alternative.

Why is bridge vs roadblock important to purpose? People who are bridges, who enable forward progress and success, are more in touch with their purpose than people who are roadblocks. Is that a dramatic overgeneralization? I think not. Again thinking in the workplace context, can you imagine any job whose sole purpose is to stop progress? Sure, there are many people who have morphed their roles into being naysayers, and whose daily work lives consist of finding new and more exciting ways of gumming up the works. But that's not what they're supposed to be doing. They're supposed to be performing their role and working in support of forward progress.

Think about the last 5 things you've worked on in your job. How many of them were constructive and advanced your role, or the position of your company? How many were negative, destructive or stopped progress in its tracks? Realistically, if you have even one tally on the negative side, that should be concerning.

If you find that your functional, effective role in the workplace is stopping progress--if that's the practical result of your work--then it's likely that your functional role has deviated sharply from the intended role of your position.

So what are you--bridge or roadblock? And if you're a roadblock, how are you going to change that?

Recent Articles in the Purpose Series:

What’s My Purpose?

War and Peace

If I Won the Mega-Millions

Why Do Hard Things?

Am I a Bridge or a Roadblock?

Am I Growing?

What Would _________ Think?

Make Things Better