I want to dedicate this post to my friend, John Palmer, who recently wrote a very similar post on his blog. I must admit that when I read his post I congratulated myself for having never missed an airline flight...2 weeks ago...
Today I learned that it is possible for the temperature to drop 79 degrees in 2 ½ hours. That’s because I missed my flight from Tampa to Indianapolis by 8 minutes. Not the flight, mind you, but the 45 minute baggage check deadline. Did you know that it doesn’t matter if you have a boarding pass and can still make it to the gate before boarding stops but if you can’t get your bag on the flight…you can’t go! When I left Tampa it was 81 degrees and when I landed in … Minneapolis … yes, Minneapolis (now on my way to Indianapolis) just 2 ½ hours later it was 2 degrees.
Here’s the kicker. The flight from Tampa to Indianapolis left at 1:50 and the flight to Minneapolis left at 1:58…but I made the baggage deadline (and the final gate call I might add) for the Minneapolis flight. All I have to say right now is… Thanks Abraham for that Ishmael thing (for those who might know what I mean).
So, I am sitting in the Minneapolis airport as I write waiting for my 8:00 p.m. flight to Indy knowing that for the sake of 8 minutes I would have been sitting in my recliner in my living room almost 2 hours ago.
Now…let’s get to brass tacks!
My class ended at 2:30 on Friday and the only hard appointment I had on my calendar was being on an airplane at 1:50 on Saturday. Why was I late? A lack of focus. That’s right John, a lack of focus. You warned me!
On the way to the airport I looked up and saw a sign that said “Tampa 13 miles” and I said to myself, “David, you are going to miss that plane.” You see, I knew about the 45 minute cutoff for checking baggage.
But here’s my lesson…I’ve gotten so comfortable with air travel and I know all about the hoops and the tricks so I got a little too lax with some unbendable rules.
There’s a lot of things in life and leadership that if we get too comfortable we can let down our guard and lose our focus at critical moments. Accidents happen when we’ve done something thousands of times and we divert our attention at a critical moment. Leadership failures occur, most of the time, not when we do something out of ignorance but when we knew better but we just got in a hurry in familiar surroundings and lost focus at a critical moment. Personal Spiritual failure happens when we think that we can loosely navigate the disciplines and the focus that is necessary to stay sharp.
When I came through airport security today I was flustered because I had to hurry or miss my flight. I almost walked away with the man holding my boarding pass. I told him I was flustered because I’d already missed one flight. He said, “just slow down and focus…that will help.”
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…slow down and focus. The guy is right.
I’d better close this blog post. I’m sitting right across from my gate but the flight will be boarding in an hour and half…I’d really hate to miss it!
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