What Your Next Road Trip Can Teach You About Leadership

Whether you already hold a leadership role or are working toward one, you’re likely looking for opportunities to improve your leadership skills. Believe it or not, such opportunities don’t always take the form of professional development or workplace training.

In fact, becoming a more effective leader can be as simple as taking a road trip. Here’s how:

Managing Time and Setting Milestones

Most road trips mean starting at one point and arriving at a final destination in a set period of time. If you have accommodations booked along the way or are shooting to do specific things throughout your journey, creating and executive an effective plan becomes crucial. The goal-setting and planning skills you learn on the road trip can be easily transferred to the workplace.

Effective Communication

Good leadership requires good communication, and what better way to hone your communication skills than by taking a road trip with family or friends? You’ll need to negotiate a variety of issues that come up on the road, from when to stop for a bathroom break to communicating with the people you meet on your journey.

Quick Problem-Solving

On any road trip, things aren’t going to go exactly as you planned. The unpredicted snowstorm, a lost credit card, a wrong turn: Obstacles like these can and will arise, and you’ll have to meet them head on and stay calm. The same is true of leadership: You’ll have to guide your team through plenty of rocky situations while staying calm and confident.

For more information on how to turn your next road trip into a leadership training opportunity, check out this infographic  from CarRentals.com :