Rental Cars

Here are this week's thoughts on rental cars.

I had a series of meetings this week that required me to catch a flight and rent a car. I rented a standard car, but when I arrived at the Enterprise desk they asked if I’d be willing to take an upgrade because they were out of standard cars. The upgrade they provided was a Mercedes SUV, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was happy about it. Once I jumped in the SUV my lack of comfort kicked in. I could never figure out how to get Bluetooth maps or Apple Car Play connected (I’m sure it was a setting I didn’t know how to change), so I had to rely on the map on my phone. I didn’t have a mount for the phone, so I either had to hold it or keep in a cup holder. Neither of these solutions were ideal for driving in an area I’ve never spent much time in. Additionally, the controls were completely different than any of my vehicles. The auto dimming brights were on and it took me a while to turn them off. There were a lot of other adjustments to be made that required a learning curve. Also, navigating the lanes, exits, one ways streets, and speed limits were different that I was used to. It was a series of changes that made me uncomfortable, and it became the subject of this week’s thoughts.

I’m not a guy who’s ever owned a Mercedes SUV. I drive a Chevy Silverado and my wife drives a Kia Carnival and I love driving them both. They are familiar to me and driving them with all their bells and whistles is second nature. Additionally, I drive well over 30,000 miles per year, and I think I’m pretty decent at it. I can read a speed limit sign, follow the navigation, change lanes with ease. Because of that baseline, I can confidently say the difficulty with the change wasn’t due to total ineptitude. Additionally, by the time I returned the SUV a few days later, the issues (other than the map connection) were no longer a problem and the roads I had been driving were easy to navigate.

My rental car experience was exactly what all of us go through when we experience change. I could have avoided the lack of comfort caused by change by staying home and not taking the meetings. However, if I hadn’t chosen to be uncomfortable, I would have missed the meetings that have now resulted in new market opportunities for the farmers we serve. We enact change to get better and that change is usually accompanied by difficulty. When we avoid change for improvement, we are choosing our own comfort over future opportunity for ourselves and others.

I think there are three issues that need to be called out regarding change. First, is a response I hear a lot since my position comes with implementing a lot of change. I’m routinely told that I don’t understand how hard it is to make changes because it’s easy for me. I’ll tell you that is absolutely untrue. I will agree that I’m more used to it than most and I think that’s because willingness to change is like lifting weights. The more you do the hard thing of working out those muscles, the more you get used to seeing results. That makes it easier to accept the short-term pain for the longer-term gain. Basically, like a sign in my office says, “Get comfortable being uncomfortable”. Many of the changes we’ve implemented have required more work and stress for me personally throughout the implementation process, but my comfort is not more valuable than better opportunities for the people I work for and with.

The second issue is that change sometimes comes with more change than you were expecting. Improving yourself or your business may be accompanied by other people or companies becoming a smaller part of your life. That may be their choice or yours. Sometimes, what you value or where you’re heading may not align any longer. Some examples may include us no longer offering a product offered by a salesperson you personally liked. Putting the company and the customer in a better position may result in less of the interactions you enjoyed with that representative. Another example may be that you aren’t included in a group any longer. That doesn't mean there’s anger or that it’s personal, but that what you’re focusing on doesn’t fit any longer. These aren’t fun issues to discuss, but if the changes you are making are important, new salespeople and groups that want to be a part of your future will come.

The third and final issue I’d like to address is that not all change works. Change comes when you try something different. Sometimes endless research and feedback on the success someone else had by trying something doesn’t end up working in our situation. In these cases, you have to be willing to change again. Now here’s the hard part… that doesn’t mean going back to the way you were doing it before. You chose to make a change because the situation wasn’t as good as it could possibly be. Going immediately back is saying that comfort is more important than working towards continuing to improve. Constantly evolve, fail fast, fire again!

That leads me to this week’s challenge… Make a change. You have something in your life that could be improved. Maybe it’s the food you eat, telling your wife how great her backside looks in those leggings instead of taking it for granted, or learning a new skill to gain opportunity to be in a position to get the role you covet, start the path. Give it a shot and flex the change muscle. Embrace the suck, do your work, and watch the magic happen!