Fly Your Flag

Posted on by Carl Weber

I don’t know about you, but I spend a lot of time in the car.  Commuting, shuttling kids around, running errands and my job requires me to drive around…a lot.  To put things in perspective, my car is a 2005 and I have 172,000 miles on it.

Making the most of this time has become an art.  Listening to podcasts of my favorite speakers and teachers, thinking about upcoming talks, or projects top the list of ways to use this time.  I have also learned to use this time to connect with others.

There are a few people I call regularly during these drives to get centered, be accountable as a leader, dad, and husband, or just deepen the relationship.

Today was one of those days, with one of those calls.  I will try to paraphrase some of it.

“Sometimes it would be so much easier in life if people had little flags that popped up and told you what kind of mood they were in.”

“Why?” I asked.  (I know, I know, pretty deep question.)

“That way when I am angry people would see the flag and know to leave me alone.  And if they were in a certain mood, I would know how to talk to them…or avoid them altogether.”

After a few minutes of trying to quickly patent this new device and develop a business plan around the “emotional flag” idea, we laughed and agreed I would show all of you the prototype.  It appears below.

Maybe we were on to something. Knowing someone’s else emotional state while revealing our own, might just be the secret to great communication.

Go ahead.  Fly Your Flag.

Published by Carl Weber

Carl Weber, is the owner and founder of Carl Weber Consulting, a consulting group that helps businesses, non-profits, and individuals understand themselves, hire and manage well, and become great leaders. Carl worked in local government for more than ten years, as the Town Administrator of a few towns in NH. Once upon a time he was a search and rescue swimmer for the US Navy. Carl holds Bachelors’ Degrees in Political Science & Community Development and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy. Carl is a Certified Professional Behavioral Analyst (CPBA) and Certified Professional Motivators Analyst (CPMA). Carl regularly teaches on human factors and the relationship of behavior and leadership styles, as well as motivation, coaching, leadership challenges, and failing as a leader. His passion is to help leaders in their lifelong journey to finish well, to combat and work with their inner voice, and to live a meaningful story worth reading. Carl lives in Southern New Hampshire with his wife Amanda and together they are raising a small tribe of four young (somewhat crazy) women with the goal of unleashing them on the world to change it for the better.

2 thoughts on “Fly Your Flag”

  1. The challenge is not in identifying other people’s moods. The challenge is in identifying our own mood – owning it, processing it, and making it a positive experience. If I am in a bad mood, I strive to re-shape my perspective – my perception of whatever condition induced my bad mood – so that I may return to happiness. Sometimes I am able to do this on my own. Sometimes it is my interaction with others that helps me get there. What’s my point? I forget. I guess I think the flags are a great idea for self-identifying the sympton of an issue (your mood) during the process of improving upon the issue.

    All that aside, your flags are cute. Did you make any positive ones? I can think of some people that would like to avoid someone who was in a great mood. 🙂

    1. I will have to do another post with a positive flag approach. (Thanks for keeping it positive.) I thought about a few of them but needed to get the old post published. How about these:

      “Happy” “Amused” or for those days between positive and negative “M’eh”

Comments are closed.