The motorcycle first caught my eye on a winding road. It was behind me and following a little too closely. But it wasn’t until we got to the main road and were stopped that I saw a dog pop its head up from behind the driver. As the motorcycle passed, the dog was clearly visible. It was in a backpack with its head and front legs on the shoulders of the driver flying down the road at 60 mph.
Many miles down the road, we stopped at a light. The motorcycle, a car in front of me, then me. And that’s when it happened. The dog started to shimmy out of the backpack. Panic set in that the light would turn green, the motorcycle would move and the dog would pop out of the backpack and land on the road. Luckily, the dog popped out of the bag and started running down the road before the light turned green. It ran up to a parking lot and was caught by its person before being hit by the oncoming cars in the next lane. Crisis averted.
There are a whole bunch of points I can make with this experience. But I’ll keep it to just one. When people don’t feel safe or are highly uncomfortable, they will bolt. What conditions are you creating in your business?