Business Is A Road Trip — Who Do You Want In Your Van?

Every April prior to the pandemic, I completed a 200-mile relay race with 11 other people.

It was a logistical challenge: run from Gettysburg to Washington, DC; 30 hours of continuous running; two vans with sweaty runners; lots of winding roads and bad convenience store food.

It was both great fun and exhausting.

At 3 a.m. (when I’d be running in the dark somewhere in rural Maryland), I'd always say to myself, "Why am I doing this?"

Then the sun would come up and I'd be almost finished. I'd forget those doubts and my aching hamstrings.

Every business owner is familiar with this feeling, even if they've never run a 200-mile race.

One of the most critical aspects of ensuring a successful race is who you ask to join you – the 11 other people you will spend 30 hours with in a van.

It goes without saying you need team players, people who pull together when the going gets tough...because it will get tough.

You also select people with special skills and abilities: he can run up the mountain; she doesn’t need much sleep and will be strong in the middle of the night; she has a great sense of direction and will make sure we don’t get lost; his great sense of humor keeps him cool under pressure.

Sometimes you find one person with a few of these skills and that’s a real bonus.

Your organization, its strategy, stage and goals are like the 200-mile relay race. The question is: Who do you want in your van?

You likely already have your van full of people, so look at the team you've assembled and examine the skills, experiences and personalities that currently exist. At a minimum:

Is everyone a team player?
Is everyone engaged in the trip?
Is there trust among everyone in the van?

If you see you're holding a seat for an individual who keeps saying, "When are we getting there?" or "I don’t want to sit in the middle!" or practices other team-damaging road-trip behaviors, ask yourself: Is it time to let this person out at the next corner?