The Weary Traveler

I sit here tonight across from the L2C gate at O'Hare Airport in Chicago run down, exhausted, and just plain frustrated.  You see, like always, flying through O'Hare becomes a nightmare.  It never fails.  I tell myself over and over again - "DO NOT FLY THROUGH O'HARE IN THE WINTER," but pricing trumps my conscience, and I realize once again, there is a reason why flights are always cheaper flying through here instead of another Hub City.  I can go months without having a delay, cancellation, or any other strange occurrence, but Chicago always leaves me with all three! 


I am on my way home from a great Leadership Summit in NW Arkansas with the Soderquist Center.  If you have never heard of this great organization, visit them here: www.soderquist.org They truly transform companies and help make better leaders.  We've had the privilege of utilizing their services for our company at Lockard and with the CCIM Institute and they have taken us to places that we never thought we could go and things we never thought we could achieve.   


I was traveling down there yesterday and had to leave the house at 5am for a 6:55am flight out of Cedar Rapids.  Of course, without fail, we had a blizzard the night before and I couldn't plow the driveway for my wife because I couldn't really fire up the snow blower at 4:30am and wake up all of my neighbors.  It couldn't happen any other day, of course not, just the day I'm leaving.  A normal 45 minute drive to Cedar Rapids turned into an hour and a half and I arrived at 6:20am for a 6:55 flight which I find out is delayed due to a mechanical problem until 7:30am.  No problem, still time to make my connection in Chicago.  We (Jamie, our President of Construction) board the plane, and we end up sitting on the plane for an hour and 45 minutes because of an ATC (Air Traffic Control) hold in Chicago - of course!  So, making our connection is now totally out of the question, and this means that we'll have to catch another flight to NW Arkansas.  We finally take off and land in Chicago and then sit on the tarmac @ O'Hare for another 30 minutes because our gate was occupied.  When we landed I looked at Jamie and said, "you do realize that we could have driven all the way to Chicago and we'd be here by now, dont' you?"  I hate that feeling. 


We made it to NW Arkansas several hours late, had a wonderful time at the leadership summit.  Then it came time to head back to the airport to leave....again I have to make the dreaded stop @ O'Hare.  Jamie took off for Dallas on his way to Oklahoma City.  He has no problems, but for me.......well you guessed it, an ATC hold - again - delayed the flight for an hour out of NW Arkansas.  I land in Chicago and then ATC caused another hold here to get to Cedar Rapids.  The reader board goes from a 9:45pm departure to a 10:12pm departure, to a 10:30pm departure, to a 12:11am departure.  You should of heard the gasps and people becoming irate at the gate.  I mean, it sounded like someone took their babies, dogs, car, house, or something else of severe importance.  Without fail there is always that one guy who will be "the guy."  He's the one that gets everyone all wound up.  He's the "neighborhood spokesman" who doesn't want Walmart to locate a store in his neighborhood's backyard.  He's the one who has to make sure that everyone knows he has to be heard. 


Believe me, I've been there.  I used to work for American Airlines at the gate in Dallas/Fort Worth, and I know how these people can treat you.  I've had my tie pulled, been cussed at, and everything in between.  I feel for these people at the airport.  They always get their heads bit off for no reason. By the tone of "Mr. Know-It-All," you would have thought that the gate agent was responsible for the Kennedy assassination, the disappearance of Hoffa, and 9/11.  The poor girl at the counter didn't do anything.  She can't control the guys in the tower or the planes on the ground.  I have huge empathy for her as I know she has been there time and time again.  It's not like she can get home to her family either.  She has to wait until we get out, so she can leave for the night.  I don't think she enjoys working until midnight, when she should be done around 10pm. 


It is in times like these that I just have to go out of my way and tell them that they are doing a great job and that I need to apologize for the behavior of the Iowan who just totally flipped out.


One of the best quotes I heard at the Leadership Summit this week wasn't from Don Soderquist, or Chuck Hyde, or Tom Verdery or any other high-profile leaders.  (Believe me, they had unbelievable information to share).  It was by a guy named Colby from a small town in Texas.  He probably only said about two words during the whole summit, but when he spoke at the end of the day, it was awesome.  He said this:


"People don't care what you know, until they know that you care." 


We can't lead our organizations, our homes, our churches, or anything until people know that you truly and deeply care.  I'd encourage you, go out of your way to show others you care.  It goes a long way!