Leadership Isn't For Cowards: How to Drive Performance by Challenging People and Confronting Problems

Chapter 15

Want to Responsibly Scare Some People?

Am I the only one who wonders if we live in a world where fewer and fewer people want to take responsibility for themselves and their behavior? Have you noticed how many people just want to blame someone else? It seems that people spend so much time finger-pointing that they really don’t take the time to consider how they may have contributed to their own circumstances.

I was walking behind a couple with a stroller in a mall one day (some people call it stalking) and I noticed that on the seat of the stroller there was a label in print large enough to read from ten feet away; it said, “Warning.” I thought, “How nice of them to warn us about the little hellion in the stroller!”

When they stopped, I walked up to them and asked why they had left the warning label attached. They said they had just purchased the stroller but might leave the label on because it was so funny. I asked, “Why is it funny?”

They said, “Read the fine print.” I got closer. The small letters said, “Do not fold stroller with baby in seat.”

Seriously? Should you really be reproducing if you need that warning? Why is that label necessary? Why does that cardboard shade thing you can put in your windshield in the summer say, “Remove before driving”? Why does the car lift at the repair garage say, “Do not stand under lift when lowering car”? Why does a coffee cup say, “Caution! The beverage you are about to enjoy is extremely hot”? (Perhaps it would be more helpful ...