Andrew Sherman, author of Road Rules, on navigating the road of life

After publishing 17 books on business growth and strategy over nearly 20 years, Andrew Sherman had a revelation. “It occurred to me that I had been accumulating a lot of thoughts about personal growth — development in life and rules of engagement in society,” says Sherman, a partner in the corporate and finance practice at the DC-based law firm Dickstein Shapiro. That revelation led to the publication of Sherman’s newly released book, Road Rules: Be the Truck, Not the Squirrel. The theme of the book is simple yet profound: There are 12 rules for navigating the road of life. In the following Q&A, Sherman takes us on a journey through some of his favorite road rules and lessons learned along way.

Who’s your target readership?

Andrew Sherman: For the first time in my life I’m writing for the general audience — anybody you would see on the street, anybody you would find behind the wheel of a car. Many successful books about life lessons tie back to things that we can all relate to in life.  Certainly we can all relate to driving — the book talks about many of frustrations, as well as the pleasures, of driving.

Could you share one of your favorite road rules?

Andrew Sherman: One of my favorites is “Share the Road” — that’s Road Rule number two.  “Share the Road” is a reminder that the road does not belong to any one of us, we need to conduct ourselves in a fashion that is sensitive to other drivers on the road of life.  So many of us get up in the morning and seem to think that the highway belongs to them both literally and figuratively in the way that they drive.  That is also probably reflective of how they are living their lives; not being cognizant of the needs of other drivers on the road — the needs of your fellow employees, the needs of your strategic partners, the needs of your family members.

Any others?

Andrew Sherman: A second favorite in terms of Road Rules is a chapter called “Accidents Can Happen Even to the Best Drivers.”  That chapter asks, What is the true meaning of success?  How do you define success?  All of us have the tendency to get off path and perceive ourselves as not being in a place where things are going particularly smoothly or where we feel like we just had a collision on the road of life or an accident.  The book is also designed to provide some comfort in knowing that no matter how carefully you live your life and how good you live your life, you’re going to get in an accident from time to time.  You’re going to go off track from time to time.

You deal with a lot of CEOs and entrepreneurs — is there anything they’re facing different from maybe five or 10 years ago?

Andrew Sherman: Great question. A few things: One, we are living in a post-Enron, post-Sept. 11, post-Iraq war environment and executives and leaders of companies are trying to be a little bit more cognizant of creating work and life balance.  They are trying to be a little bit more understanding of the needs of their employees and trying to proceed with just a little bit more caution as opposed to driving down the road at 90 miles an hour.  I think that is a benefit to everyone.  I mean being more sensitive to other drivers on the road is definitely going to avoid collisions both in life and on the highway.

I think there is an attitudinal change in the culture of a lot of companies around that.  A similar Road Rule chapter in the book is “Don’t Fear the Back Roads” — that chapter looks at the fact that there is not only one way to arrive at your goals in life, there are alternative channels and back roads.  If you look at literature over the years, Walden Pond and other books have taught us that some of our best lessons can be learned on alternative paths and not approaching problem solving the exact same way time and again.

You are involved in training  between the business community and nonprofits — how did that experience help you write Road Rules: Be the Truck not the Squirrel?

Andrew Sherman: For the last 25 years I’ve been an educator at heart and most of my day is of course as an educator wearing the hat of a partner at a major law firm here in DC.  I also spend a lot of time in the classroom at the University of Maryland and at Georgetown.  And I also devote time in the community working with various business groups and industry groups.  Road Rules is really a reflection of a lot of the thinking that I’ve done about educating people about their lives, making sure they are on the right paths, making sure they are happy with the path that they are on and understanding that it’s not too late to change your path.

What’s a final road rule you can share?

Andrew Sherman: One of the final road rules is called “Happiness is a Clear Windshield.”  The importance of clarity and vision in your life and your business is critical.  The chapter discusses what happens when you allow dirt and grime to cloud your windshield in life and leaves you unable to see the things you need to see to move yourself forward and move your company forward.  I think a lot of the book is just an outgrowth of my life as an educator and it’s time to share some thoughts for people and not just for companies.

For more information on the book, please visit www.bethetruck.com.

Interview with Andrew Sherman was conducted by JD Kathuria

Read more interviews here: http://blog.executivebiz.com/category/interviews/

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