Right track, wrong train

Yesterday on my way to NYC, the early train I wanted to take was switched at the last minute to the track on the opposite side of the station. Hundreds of wet footsteps and lots of grumbling at 633 am.

Odd, I thought, since like car traffic, there are definite rules about which way the train goes, on which side of the track. So I asked a fellow rider if this is unusual, and she told me this happens frequently.

I blurted out. “right track, wrong train” which in fact was backwards, and she corrected me with a chuckle. But with that saying excavated from my memory, as only one adage I learned from Coach Carter in high school Algebra class, it came up and out involuntarily that way.

When asking us to help him solve equations on the black slate chalkboard (I am carbon-dating myself!), as we we got closer to the answer, but not quite correct, Coach Carter would encourage us by saying,”Right track, wrong train.”

Later that day, working with a returning coaching client needing a LinkedIn profile tuneup, he produced a carefully pre-written narrative that he thought could be a draft of his renovated profile and brought it to the session, even without my asking. Motivated and insightful, his self-assessment work was very useful to build upon. He was pretty close to what I wanted him to express, yet not quite there, so I worked with him to get him on the right track, right train.

The LinkedIn connection? you ask: Be sure your profile places your reader comfortably and safely in a seat on the right train, on the right track in your narrative of “why you do what you do, ” as themes come together to convey your unique message.

As is the case with many profiles I see, wrong track, wrong train, the reader reduces his or her attention and thus lowers comprehension, or worse, he/she moves on to the evil competitor.

Don’t look like the north side of a south-bound mule (another memorable quote from Coach Carter)!