At Delta and United Airlines, These 2 Short Words Make a Big Difference For 2021
Here’s a leadership question, courtesy of Delta Air Lines and United Airlines. When you’re leading a team in difficult times, is it better to exude optimism, or lean toward realism?
This is the sort of thing I cover in my free ebook, Flying Business Class: 10 Rules for Leaders From the U.S. Airlines, about what business leaders can learn from watching the airlines. (You’re invited to download it here.)
Over the past 10 days or so, we’ve had the chance to watchas Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, and Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, each took a significantly different rhetorical approach as they predicted the way forward during 2021.
First, Bastian at Delta. During his airline’s most recent earnings call, I was struck by how often Bastian and his team used variations of words like “hope,” “optimism,” and “confidence” despite the