Leadership is a series of little things entrusted to us. And the uncomfortable reality is that we are judged just as much on how we handle the little things as we are on how we handle the big things. The Colonel often told me, “If I can’t trust you in the little things, Lauren Ann, how can I trust you in the bigger things?”
I was raised to be a rule follower. While some may be cumbersome, and we may not understand or agree with all of them, I believe, for the most part, that rules, laws, and regulations are established for good reasons.
That brings me to my flight yesterday. Anyone who flies fairly regularly knows that when the cabin doors close, phones go into airplane mode. Many believe this to be a stupid rule. They will argue that their mobile signal is not messing with the plane’s communication systems. Nonetheless, whether their belief that they are smarter than the avionics engineers and the FAA is valid or not it is a federal regulation. I have seen many push the boundaries to the point where the flight attendants have stood over them, glaring for them to finish up their very important business before doing the safety briefing, thus delaying departure for everyone…
Yesterday, the safety briefing was complete, and we had pushed back from the gate when (seated across the aisle from me) Mr. I’mMoreImportantThanTheRules’ phone rang. He rushed to silence it. This prompted a reminder from the already-seated flight attendant about the federal regulation that all cell phones must be in airplane mode before we could take off. As we proceeded to taxi toward the runway for our 35-minute short hop, Mr. Important dialed his phone to make a phone call, leaving a message for someone about the fact that he was on a plane and would call them when he landed. The woman seated next to me said, “Did he just make a phone call?” Uhuh.
How often have you seen someone break the law or fudge on a protocol or standard? How much do you trust them afterward?
As we made our descent to land, I was tempted to ask him for a business card. I didn’t, but I was tempted – just so I could send him an email sharing my observation and advising him that I would never choose to do business with him, regardless of his industry or how badly I might be in need of his services. (There is ALWAYS another vendor). If one can’t be trusted to follow the small rules, how would I know that they wouldn’t fudge on larger ones? Inferior materials? Doctored books?
Zig Ziglar said, ” What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.” There is always a potential customer watching, and your team will follow your example in the little things as well as the larger ones – whether you want them to or not.
If we can’t be trusted with the little things, why would we assume someone would trust us with bigger things?
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
