Leaders fix the environment, not people.
Watch this short clip about airline customer service and be asking yourself the question: ‘What is it about the environment that’s causing the gate agents to act in this way?’
I’m here in Barcelona, (though it could be any airport), and I’m ready to board to Newark. The boarding time on the sign reads – 9:45. Right now it’s about 9:51. The cleaning crew just came off and the cabin crew just went on along with the pilots. So, we all know that we’re not really boarding at 9:45.
In the meantime, we have all these gate agents. Could we say anything to the passengers? Nah. Could we just say, “Hey, we’re just going to be a few minutes late”? Nah.
They’re just going to ignore all those people that are standing out there.
So, what do you think is getting in the way of these gate agents from just being transparent, thinking about what these people are going through, and just picking up the mic and just letting them know what’s going on?
I’m David Marquet, that’s your Leadership Nudge.
