What’s Your Lane?
On the team that I lead, we will occasionally revisit the topic of our “lanes:”
- Those things we’re currently doing that we love to do.
- Those things we’re currently doing that we no longer want to do.
- Those things we’re not currently doing that we want to try.
We know that on our team, we are responsible for a certain number of things. But just because one particular thing was something I did last year doesn’t mean I’m the most gifted or qualified person for it this year.
And so we revisit our lanes. We write down everything that our team does without assigning who does it. Then it’s a free for all: what do I want to keep doing? Start doing? Stop doing? Is there someone else on the team who can do this better? Is there something that drains life from a team member that would give life to me?
Having the lanes discussion forces us to reckon with the fact that we have a different mix of gifts. It keeps us from falling into the same old ruts. And it allows each of us to experiment with skill sets we may not have known we had.
(Practically, I like to go through the lanes conversation when I’m onboarding a new team member. And then I like to revisit that topic within the first three months, and again one or two times per year after that.)
Do you know your lane?
Are you running in your lane?
Or is it time for you to break out of your lane?
