What the Map Doesn’t Know
Several years ago, it was late at night.
We were driving down a long, lonely stretch of road, trying to make it back home. The GPS had taken us off the interstate and onto a smaller highway.
That alone would have been fine.
But there was one more problem.
We were almost out of gas.
At first, the road seemed normal enough. A few turns. A few quiet towns. Nothing unusual.
Then the road kept getting darker.
Fewer lights.
Less traffic.
More trees.
Eventually, we rounded a bend, and the road simply ended.
In front of us was the river.
And a ferry crossing.
The ferry was not running that late at night.
I remember sitting there for a moment, staring at the empty dock while the GPS calmly insisted we had arrived exactly where we were supposed to be.
What struck me later was not the ferry.
It was how long I trusted the route.
The screen showed a clean blue line.
Every turn looked precise.
Every instruction sounded certain.
But the map did not know the ferry stopped running at night.
That was the problem.
As a leader, I have learned not to trust just any voice.
Every situation carries its own details.
Its own timing.
Its own reality.
Just because something worked somewhere else
does not mean it will work here.
Just because it worked before
does not mean it will work now.
Leadership often means recognizing when the map no longer matches the moment.
And having the courage to choose a different road.
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