How well is your organization thinking beyond the moment?

by Chris Blauth A well known airline recently experienced a public relations tsunami, thanks in part to the power of social media. After baggage handlers apparently broke his beloved guitar, a ruffled passenger embarked on a year-long pilgrimage to convince the airline to compensate him for his damaged asset. And to apologize. Each airline employee—according to this passenger—stuck to their antiquated 20th century customer satisfaction rule book and indicated they would not remedy the situation. Consequently, he decided to chronicle the account by way of a seminal song and distribute it by leveraging 21st century technology. This initially harmless video has—at the time of this writing—been viewed by over 4.7 million views on YouTube alone. Sadly, the leaders at this airline neither understood nor demonstrated AchieveGlobal’s research-based leadership principle Think beyond the moment. The central thrust of this principle is that for each action or decision, there are consequences. Being a good leader means considering how your actions and decisions will impact others and the organization, and avoiding actions that bring personal benefit at the expense of others. When leaders set compelling goals, make thoughtful plans, and behave ethically, they increase their trustworthiness and dependability. What’s more, anticipating the future also helps leaders prevent minor, manageable problems from turning into organizational crises. This last point is so vital—and challenging—that I submit for your consideration and application four tips to help you Think beyond the moment:

• Bring up ethical issues as a regular part of work conversations. Without being judgmental, raise the awareness of ethical obligations in your workplace.
• Support the highest values of your organization and use them to make decisions on behalf of customers and co-workers.
• Represent the organization to the outside world. Join a trade or professional organization where you can learn about industry standards and promote the organization’s interests.
• Recount examples of situations in which you made decisions that were in the best interests of your customers and the organization, even though it was not easy to do so.

I learned first-hand how another major airline embraced this last tip. I was recently delayed at New York’s John. F. Kennedy airport due to inclement weather. Two weeks later I received in the mail—get this—a letter conveying the airline’s regret, including a formal apology on behalf of everyone at the airline, and a voucher good toward future travel. It was their way of Thinking beyond the moment in very practical ways. I certainly wasn’t expecting that type of response and kind gift but would like to publically say, “Thank you, Delta, for your thoughtful and unforgettable letter!”