Last week, I took my road test to obtain my Irish driver’s license, more than 30 years after I first walked into the DMV in Randolph, New Jersey, for the freedom that came with my first set of car keys.
Back then, freedom meant late-night diner runs, controlling the radio, and Fridays at the Seaside Heights boardwalk.
Today, driving is far less glamorous: grocery runs, shuttling our young adult children to their social engagements, and finding new walking routes to keep Crosby entertained.
This test was different.
The Irish road test has a reputation for being tough. It’s precise. It’s technical. It demands that you execute the rules of the road, correct gear selection, proper lane choice in a roundabout, and deliberate blind-spot checks.
Before I went in, I was warned: charm won’t help you here.
And that stuck with me.
Over the past three decades, I’ve built a career around persuasion, helping clients advance policies, secure contracts, grow audiences, and shape narratives. Storytelling and relationship-building open doors. They get you in the room.
But sitting in the driver’s seat as I pulled away from the testing center with a very matter-of-fact tester in my passenger seat was a reminder of something fundamental:
Execution matters more than explanation.
You can talk about knowing the rules.
You can describe what you’re going to do.
You can frame it perfectly.
But at some point, you have to put the car in gear and drive.
In government affairs, business development, and communications, the same rule applies. Knowing how to tell the story is important. Knowing how to navigate the system is critical.
But knowing how to actually get something done?
That’s what brings real results.
Action always outweighs talk.
