Leadership Is the Art of Changing Tires Before It Snows
On Friday afternoon, I went in for my annual winter tire change.
I thought I was ahead of the curve—early November, scheduled in advance. Not bad, right?
Except… I was wrong.
What usually takes an hour turned into nearly three.
The phones were ringing nonstop. The parking lot was jammed. Every bay was full.
Why?
Because snow had shown up in the forecast. And suddenly, everyone remembered they needed winter tires.
People were frustrated. Caught off guard. And booked out two weeks before they could even get an appointment.
And as I sat there waiting, I realized, this wasn’t a tire problem.
It was a leadership problem.
The “snow is coming” moment every leader faces
This is what happens inside organizations all the time.
We know what’s coming - the product launch, the audit, the busy season, the resignation wave—but we put it off. We convince ourselves we’ll deal with it later, because today feels more urgent.
Then the storm hits.
And everyone scrambles, frustrated that what “suddenly happened” was entirely predictable.
That’s not procrastination. That’s short-term bias: the psychological pull that makes today’s fires feel more important than tomorrow’s forecast.
Great leaders fight that bias. They keep one eye on the snow clouds forming in the distance.
You can’t lead from the rearview mirror
The best leaders I’ve worked with aren’t just good at reacting to what’s right in front of them.
They’re good at preparing for what’s about to arrive.
They ask:
What will matter two weeks from now?
What are we pretending isn’t urgent yet?
How can we make next month easier today?
That’s not busywork. That’s culture work.
Because when a leader constantly reacts to what’s in the rearview mirror, instead of anticipating what’s ahead, the whole team learns that planning ahead is optional.
And when planning ahead is optional, chaos becomes culture.
3 Practical Things Leaders Can Do Right Now
1) Challenge your “right now” bias.
Once a week, ask yourself and your team:
“What’s the thing we’ll wish we started earlier?”
Write it down. Move one step forward on it today.
2) Create a 2-lane focus.
Every meeting should include two columns:
What’s important now
What’s important next
This keeps your team grounded in today’s execution and tomorrow’s preparation.
3) Normalize anticipation.
Reward people for spotting issues early, not just fixing them late.
The more your culture celebrates foresight, the less you’ll need firefighting.
The Takeaway
Ironically, this is the second year in a row that I booked my tire change right before the first snow hit.
Apparently, the forecast was clear, I just wasn’t paying attention soon enough.
Leadership works the same way.
Storms are predictable.
Culture is what determines whether your team braces for them, or gets blindsided by them.
So here’s the real question for the week:
What snow is already in your forecast, and what’s stopping you from getting the tires on now?
