What does your bucket look like?

Sometime ago, I was having lunch with a good friend, and we got to talking about different life situations, how people manage different situations and just life in general.

After we parted company, I started thinking about how we all work through these life challenges with different approaches, and for some reason I started thinking of it like carrying around a bucket.

Sometimes it felt like I was trying to balance a bucket of water on my head while I was walking down a steep, rocky path. Other times it was more like I was pulling a wagon along a paved street with the bucket was inside. I still had to worry about where I was going and not spilling any of the contents along the way, but I think pulling the wagon was easier.

I think Leadership (especially in the retail automotive environment) is a lot like that.

When you arrive at work every day, you pick up a bucket filled with water and place it on top of your head and begin walking down the path. (I tried once to mentally fill it with beer, however, soon everybody kept stopping me for a drink and of course I had to have one and next thing you know, nothing got done). But I digress.

Here is where it gets tricky.

Throughout the day, as you are walking the path, you are stopping and giving people a drink. (This is why it can’t be beer) And, even better, some people are giving you a drink (from their bucket) and sometimes offering to top off your bucket.

But be careful…some people want you to carry their bucket. They have become quite good at trying to persuade you. If you do, you will have too many buckets to balance and you will spill it all on the path, ensuring no one gets a drink.

Still others are trying to knock your bucket off your head. They will try to slow you down; make you change course or even drop your bucket. Your goal is to stay on the path and keep your bucket full.

For some reason, some people take delight in keeping you from reaching your goals.

These people don’t want to carry anything. In fact, they do not have any intention of picking up a bucket, helping share the load or walking the same path as you. Do you have people like that in your organization?

They need a bucket.

Lastly, be wary of other people who want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. This won’t work either. The goal here is to help them keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load.

Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired, you will want to put down your bucket and you will forget where you were going in the first place.

If you have personnel walking around without carrying something (sharing the load), ask them to grab a bucket and walk the path with you. If they do not want to walk alongside you, ask them to find a new path.

And it’s best to keep your bucket full, and here is the reason. You can’t have an empty bucket at the end of the day. If your bucket is empty when you come in the next day, you will find it harder to pick it up. That’s why you refill it every day. ?

Your goal is to give those that need a drink enough to quench their thirst while encouraging them to fill their own bucket.

One last thought. Some of you are balancing oversized buckets on your head. If your bucket is the same as or wider than the path you are walking, you need to find a more manageable bucket my friend.

What good is a large bucket if you can’t give someone a drink for fear of tipping it over and spilling all the contents on the ground? And what good are you to anyone else if your bucket is so large that they can’t move forward or backwards, and you can’t set it down? Basically, you are blocking the path.

So, as you travel on your path today, look around at the buckets we are all balancing as we walk our paths. ?

Keep yours full, keep your feet moving and don’t carry too big of a bucket.