Taking Action With Positive Intent

As Leaders, We Take Action With Positive Intent!fly separately. By separately, I mean at opposite
These have been my words to live by since thisends of the plane.
past summer. I have to tell you, that I am notIt seems that the wife was sitting all the way up
proud of the way that I came to be reinforcedfront with one child and the man and his other
by that particular Leadership concept andson were given a seat assignment all the way at
philosophy.the back of the plane. Neither row had enough
I would like to tell you two stories. One in whichseats for the whole family to sit together.
you may think of me as a horses rear end, andI overheard one of the stewardesses saying that
you would be right. The second is the applicationa woman in the front seat would not budge
of this Leadership principle and how that made aallowing the family to sit together. I was sitting in
huge difference in someone else's life.an aisle seat and there was a seat between
I was standing in the security line at San Franciscomyself and another man. By this time the son had
airport, returning home after a series of seminars.figured out that mom and dad were going to be
On this particular day, the lines were long andseparated and he as having none of it. I realized
tempers were short (surprise) as passengers andthis father, his family not only separated and his
airport personnel alike worked to get everybodychildren upset for the whole flight back to the
through the lines in time for their flights. I wasmainland, felt helpless in resolving this dilemma.
near the first turn of the maze, when I noticedThere were no offers of assistance from any
an airport employee standing near the end of theother passenger on the plane. I remembered how
line. He was dressed in an airport uniform andstressful it was to travel with small children and
although not security, his mission was clearly tohad compassion and empathy for his situation.
help as needed. He was approached by an elderlyI thought to myself, "What would be the best
gentleman, and being the curious sort, I followedcourse of action?" and "What can I do about this
along as their dialogue went something like this.situation?" This is what we as Leaders need to do
"I am looking for the line to get to the gate."1st. We need to ask questions.
"You are standing right next to it" said the airportAsking the right questions are the keys to
worker.unlocking the door that leads to action with
"No, I mean that I was told to get into a differentpositive intent. Asking questions stops apathy,
line."inaction, poor results and the "Just shut up it's not
"Who told you that?" came the sharp retort.your business" thinking.
The gentleman pointed vaguely in the direction ofI had my answer. I took stock of the
the ticket counter and started to explain himself.circumstances and realized that sitting here, with a
Before he could finish, the airport worker cut himseat between myself and a fellow passenger,
off. "I don't know what they told you, but youwould have be of no value to my inner self
have to stand in this line." He then gestured to therespect if I allowed the man and his family to be
end of it and said somewhat rudely "Just go tocompletely separated while I could do something
the end like everybody else." It is here that Iabout it and I did nothing.
must confess my shame. I became so caught upI first asked the man in my row if he minded
in the exchange, that I did not step in, and insteadmoving to accommodate the family. He said no
witnessed the following.problem. I called the stewardess, offered my
The older gentleman said "Hey, there is no needsolution (with my fellow passenger's assistance)
to start yelling or talk rudely to me...." He was cutand a few minutes later, made my way up front,
off again by the airport worker and received thispassing a grateful mom and wife in the aisle and
for his troubles, "I said you had to go to the endtook a seat.
of this line and that's it." The older gentleman,It was no big deal to me or the other gentleman,
clearly upset and somewhat confused, shuffledbut I could feel the relief as the family settled in
off, defeated by an overbearing uniform and loudtogether for the long flight home.
language.It only takes one simple act. It's not that difficult
I did not intervene, and to this day, I amto recognize when someone is in need of
embarrassed at the thought of my inaction. Thisassistance and taking action to help them.
incident stuck with me for several months. IIs there a moral of the story? That's for you to
thought about the airport worker and his dutiesdecide. I do know this. In the first story, I knew
as I understood them, and the older gentlemanwhat I should have done and took no action, and
and his circumstances. I wondered about myfelt terrible about it for quite awhile. Later I
deference to people in uniform, a leftover fromthought to myself, that was someone's Dad,
my military background, and my acceptance ofGrandpa and Brother. Would I want my Dad
poor treatment towards others by someone in atreated that way? I don't think so.
uniform. I had fallen into the "Just shut up it's notThe second story illustrates how just asking one
your business" trap.simple question, you can have an impact.
I decided right then and there from that pointIt may be just one small pebble tossed into the
forward to start taking action with positive intent.ocean of life, yet, every pebble creates a one
Here is a success story from using thatsmall wave.
Leadership principle and philosophy.Toss enough pebbles, and you have a tsunami.
A few weeks later, I am waiting at the gate inTake action with positive intent and change your
Honolulu. It's a 6 hour flight from Hawaii, and quitelife and the lives of others! Even if you think you
frankly, after a week on the road, I was beat.can't take action, you can. It makes a difference.
The plane was full, and due to last minute this andIf we aspire to be Leaders, we need to take
that, accommodating all of the passengeraction with positive intent when there is
requests for seat arrangements became a littlesomething to be done. To the older gentleman in
dicey. After I found my seat, I became awareSan Francisco, I apologize for not taking action
that a man and his family were going to have toand I owe you one.