Back in 1999 Payne Stewarts agent booked the two of them on a Sun Jet charter from Orlando to Dallas. They had a promotional stop along the way. Payne normally flew with Flex Jets. In fact, he had a contract with them for 100 hours of fly time a year. He was a big client, in other words. Why, then, did his agent book with Sun? Simple math, I guess…
They were the low cost bidder.
He was trying to save some of the green stuff. He didn’t do his homework when selecting a supplier and it cost him and Payne dearly. This decision led to their death. Sun, you see, had a bad reputation for cutting corners. They flew pilots with less experience. They trained them to the bare minimum. They cut corners to cut costs. Common.
When the cabin lost pressure, slowly, as this ill fated jet surely did, the pilots had 12 seconds to detect and react before reacting would be impossible.
Today, when you google Sun Jets, you get nothing. Google Flex Jets and you’ll see their options for charter. They appear to still be alive a decade and some change later. I have no idea what kinda team they are, I don’t their principles, clueless as to their value propositon, and cannot explain anything about where they are headed. I do, however, understand one thing. They are still alive.
The teams that survive into 2020 will do so by looking well beyond the bottom line. Not ignoring, mind you, but beyond.
Teams that weather this stormy decade will know who they are, understand why they are here, connect you and I to their value proposition, NOT cut corners, NOT focus on short term “profit ponies,” set a flight plan for how they go forward, and mid course correct their way toward their destination. The teams that will survive into 2020 will have a performance edge to their very fabric. They will train their team well beyond the minimum and will demand incredible reaction time from the time they learn something to the time they ACT accordingly. The teams that survive into 2020 will not be easy places to hang out. They, remember, will have a performance edge. Only master pilots, think Sully here, need apply. Only masters that don’t know that they are. Only masters that want more mastery. Only masters that LOVE their work and LOVE their teams will make it through. The coming decade promises to be a bumpy ride…
Are you ready?
Are you demanding excellence?
Does your culture look to cut corners or cut everything and anyone that does not strive for high performance?
Are you tolerating excuses?
Are you milking some old model or mid course correcting your way to a new one?
Why will you survive? AND, why will we be glad you are here?
Tell me more, my friend.
Tell me more…
BUILT TO LEAD 