Line Over Speed

May 17th, 2010

Have you ever felt like you were running 100mph but got nowhere?  I will admit that at times I have felt that way —and it is frustrating.  Busy activity is one thing but productive activity is another.  After a tough day where I had “bee hive” activity but made no “honey,” I sometimes loosely use the phase, “I am getting no traction!” Sound familiar?

I think one of the geniuses of automobile racing is WISH TV’s race expert Derek Daly.  I once recalled Derek, in his Irish accent, saying, “A good driver understands, ‘Line over Speed’.”  What Derek meant was that a driver needs to understand the “line” (sometimes referred to as the groove) of the track before he or she applies speed and acceleration to the race car.

Think about how the comment, “Line over speed” applies to our everyday life.  Do we find our groove in business and in the interaction with others before we apply speed and efficiency?  I can attest that I don’t always.  It seems that I am someone who jumps in with both feet, take control and in the process alienate others around me; or not listen to someone because I am thinking of my own agenda rather listening and truly understanding their points of view.  In other words, I attempt to apply speed and efficiency before I figure out or find my groove.  Better stated, “I need to slow down to speed up!”

Last weekend, my 8 year old son taught me a lesson about “line over speed.”  Bennett is my 4^th of 5 boys and he races quarter midgets.  A quarter midget is a race car similar to a go kart except it has a roll cage and body panels similar to a sprint car.

In Bennett’s first of several races on this given Saturday, he drove a superb race coming in second place.  The key to Bennett’s success in the first race was that he found the line of the track and never deviating except to pass.  Later as the day wore on it became obvious that Bennett was losing his mojo.  As he was strapping into his race car for his 5^th race, I could not help but notice that he was tired and that he had lost his edge.  He started the race following the line of the track but as the laps passed he surrendered to his fatigue.  He lost his groove and cars began to pass.

When the race had finished, I looked at the on-board commuter of his car and discovered that he maintained his speed but his lap times were noticeably off.  Why, because he forgot the importance of “line over speed.” Think about, when do we lose our “line”, in our personal or business lives, or in our day-to-day interactions with others?  Is it when we are tired? Is it when we are overly aggressive?  Regardless of when, finding your groove before you apply speed and efficiency is the key to our success as it was for Bennett in his race last Saturday.  Being effective is much more important than being efficient, however once you create a pattern of being effective, efficiency comes later.

Paul Lushin

Related Posts

• Commit to Sales
• Don’t Paint Seagulls In Your Prospect’s Picture
• Stop Sabotaging Your Sales

Lushin has really turned my prospecting around. I’ve been more effective, waste less time on prospects with no potential and gain clear next steps, that didn’t happen prior to training. It’s also helped me secure more and better appointments.

Read the Story