Higher Ups in public

Instead of dissecting finer points of the latest Business Roundtable (BRT) decree, issued earlier this week with great Twitter fanfare, let us examine a more fundamental example of social purpose called corporate executive behavior. Or the individual, in this case.

The individual happened to be a senior ranking Delta employee, who along with his wife, were allowed to cut into the security line at Hartsfield Jackson's international terminal.

Yours truly, on way to D.C., was standing in one of two general lines because the TSA pre-check line was closed for business @ 10:30 AM due to low traveller volume. The sign said the line would reopen @ 12:30 PM, which seemed a bit odd. Several of my closest friends and associates were waiting rather patiently for the slow moving line to accelerate. It never did. At a late interval, right before bin heaven, a Delta red coat stopped the lane to let whom she called a "higher up," cut in front of everyone.

Now with all due respect to a corporation's social purpose, which the Business Roundtable is now asking members to swear by in blood, isn't the issue fundamentally more about entitlement and the declining number of elites willing to put others before themselves?

Jamie Dimon, CEO, Citigroup

This is an epidemic, in my view, and while it has something to do with income gaps, the behavior will never change until more are held to account for not at least trying to put others first. After all, social purpose begins at home and in the community -- not in the board room.

Back to the security line and Mr. Higher Up. He didn't even acknowledge his public. A simple thank you, or better yet, visibly letting a few others go before would have done wonders in at least demonstrating awareness bordering on care. Delta passengers pay his salary anyway, right?

The sad fact is few try to be selfless, and the ones who the public wants to try even less. Consider members of Congress who now seem to be in fear of their lives 24-7. In Atlanta, it's hard to name anyone on the private sector side who excels at public acumen. Truett Cathy is gone, and Jimmy Carter and Andy Young are old enough to do whatever the hell they want. The rest avoid displays and for good reason. Super elites hop on private jets, not 737s.

Higher-ups, please remember to humble thyself when in public. This week's sighting was a missed opportunity, but it was seen. And now maybe it will be heard.

Short bursts: Ghosting, time flies and the Trump Effect II

Are you a ghoster? That's a rhetorical question. Every last business decision-maker has ghosted someone at one time or another. We're not talking about date or stock ghosting, which is illegal. Business ghosting is when a prospect, client and/or whatever we call that in between phase (send in your nominees) goes silent despite the litany of ways that technology has created to communicate. Hint to the indignant: Technology isn't the problem here, behavior is.


A great friend and client goes through ghosting seasons and then suddenly re-emerges as if no time ever elapsed. That's an art form that most of us cannot perfect. So don't be a ghost: Return calls and good emails/texts, even if it takes a little while to send one-line responses. Or you conveniently forget.


Time flies, period. Speaking of time, here's a great personal efficiency exercise for those who think they don't have time to do anything more, or what they want to do vs. what they have to do. Another great friend introduced this once upon a time, and I had the privilege of recently sharing with a time-starved client struggling with priorities.

There are 168 hours in the week. If you say you're working 60 hours a week and sleeping on average 7 hours a night, then the math is pretty simple: 168-60 = 108-42 = 66. Take out meal time or 3 hours a day, which is a high estimate even counting preparation, and you get another breakdown: 66-21 = 45 hours left in the seven-day week. That's roughly 6.5 hours a day to spend more wisely. Guard your time accordingly. Note what activities were not allotted time in the previous breakdowns.


Trump Effect II. So a D.C.-based influencer recently asked, "What do you think of Trump?" Oddly enough, I had a similar conversation over the holidays with my mother who now owns a small handheld squeeze ball figure of our 45th president, courtesy of a stocking stuffer given by her loving son.
Trump is an answer to the previous regime's inability to understand and connect with real angst out in the rest of the country besides New York and San Francisco. Things like the Great Recession will do that sometimes. Enter change in the form of a New York City billionaire who I believe loves his country despite cynics that say he's self interested con man. [You can exit the blog post now if you haven't already, no love lost.]

Love or loathe him, Trump simply reflects, or did at the time of the last election, the lesser of two evils. But he also tapped into something that those who live in gated communities and ride around in black cars simply refuse to accept: Something needs to change, preferably for the better, in government, media or any other institution for that matter. And that the change starts with them personally. Nothing works except fanning the flames of special interest.


So no matter what you think of Trump, consider this point of view: He's an aberration, last of a generation. What will follow is even more unpredictable and potentially unstable, assuming you expect a savior from this world to rescue the country from itself. The way we work, live, shop, seek/receive health care, travel, etc., is changing at a rate that no one could possibly keep up with -- much less grasp fully. Anyone under 40 could care less who the nightly news anchor is, much less names of their congressional representatives.


By the way, this is not necessarily bad despite how you may reading into tone. There's tremendous ingenuity, creativity and opportunity that arise during change. It's up to each of us to channel the positives, manage/discard the bad and serve those who feel disenfranchised. That comes in many forms. It's not a one-day event. Don't just make a difference, be the difference. And remember to use those daily leftover hours (6.5) wisely. Good day,


JG