I upgraded to First Class on a couple recent trips I took. I was flying United Airlines. On my first leg, from Orlando to San Francisco, the plane was delayed two hours even though it was supposed to have taken off at 8:20 in the morning. The second leg, from San Francisco to San Diego, was delayed 45 minutes.
It occurred to me, as I was sitting there on the delayed second leg, that regardless of the fact I was sitting in First Class, I’m only really as good as the flight itself.
If the flight was delayed, I was delayed. If the flight had mechanical difficulties, I had mechanical difficulties. And if, God forbid, the flight had crashed, I would have gone down with the flight.
The fact I was flying First Class had relatively little bearing on the circumstances of my flight and absolutely no bearing on the outcome of my flight.
I know that, in flying First Class, I got a full meal for free when everyone in the back cabin had to pay a fee for theirs. And I know that my seats were definitely wider than theirs. But I also know those differences were minor in comparison to the extra cost. And I definitely know that those minor differences had no relevance at all to the objective of the flight.
There’s nothing wrong with flying First Class. And I always hope I have the opportunity to do that, as often as I can. But I also know that I will only be as valuable as the piece of equipment under me and the staff supporting me.
My business is truly no different then that. My office is a little bigger and I have some perks that the rest of the staff doesn’t have. But those are circumstantial. At the end of the day, my role as CEO is only as good as the business itself and the staff of individual people around me who support it.
Original writing date: July 18, 2007