I was standing in line recently at the off-airport car park. We had just gotten off the shuttle, for which a few of us had had to wait an extra bit for because the previous one was full. I had noticed a man who had arrived after me and wanted to get on the earlier shuttle be turned away, and he had done that little hesitation thing that indicates displeasure, but didn’t say anything, accepting the situation,

I have seldom been accused of patience, and didn’t think too much of it. But when standing in line, this gentleman (early 40s, 6 foot 4 of moderate build) shuffled to the front of the line to see if they had opened a second window. I mentioned to him there was just one line (the line was clearly marked with yellow chevron paint on the floor) and he smiled and went back to the end of the line.

Several people were in line in front of and behind me. A minute went by and the second window did open up. The person at the front of the single line went to the new window to offer up their ticket and pay, and of course mister patience went to the front and stood behind the person at the second window.

I said to him in a nice, even manner that there was only one line and that he should get back into it. He was peeved but said he didn’t mind in that way that indicates he really does mind. The young lady in front of me thanked me.

My point in this story is not to appear like some kind of hero of the people- anything but- but to share that in a lot of situations, we have to stand up for ourselves, or have someone on our team who can be that person. The person to ask the uncomfortable question, to risk pissing off people by disturbing the herd – it can be done in a nice and a not-nice way.

As the CEO of a startup company, this role of bad cop or ‘meanie’ as I think of it, falls to me quite often. And I have done it in both ways but (I hope) usually in a very rational way. There is a danger in it too, though – if others always look to a single person to play this role they may not learn that they can and should be able to do it too.

To be effective in work and life I think we all need to be able to play that part some of the time. I suggest taking advantage of trivial situations like the annoying line jumper guy to try out and hone these skills. Because you, your family, friends, company or self will need them sometime.