Speech

FAA Managers Association

Remarks as prepared for delivery.

Good morning, and thanks for the invitation. I enjoy being on the front lines. This is where the real business of aviation gets done — by the men and women at each and every seat in this room. Back at headquarters, we can push programs, plans and projects. We can initiate policies and directives. But when it all comes down to it, the buck stops and starts with you. But we’ll talk more about that in a bit.

You know, there was a time when McDonald’s was the American icon. I suppose you can debate that with the people from Pepsi or Coke, and I guess Wal-Mart or Sears, but in any event, there’s a new kid on the block. And they’ve entered the business world with a business plan that sells you something that you can get almost anywhere — everywhere — for less than a buck. Their business model, though, is a departure from the norm. Their plan is to sell you the same thing for three dollars, or four dollars if you’re a connoisseur.

I’m talking about coffee, specifically, Starbucks coffee.

If you know anything about the Starbucks story, back in 2007, they hit a wall. The company that had taken America — and the world — by storm in the late 80s suddenly no longer was the in-place to be. They had gone from what people were calling a “cultural touchstone” and instead had become a place to be avoided.

The question:  why?

Well, Starbucks was never solely about coffee. As a matter of fact, places like Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds can get you some pretty good Jet A for about half the price. No, Starbucks was about the experience. McDonalds and Dunkin Donuts are places to get your stuff and go. Starbucks is a place to see and to be seen. A place to smell the aroma. A place where college students study. A place where no matter how tall, grande or vente or skinny or latte or soy or espresso you might be, it was the place to be.

It was never a place to get your stuff and go. There was always a line. It was never about quick. It was always the experience. Their marketing included words like “community” and “neighborhood.” If you think about it, it’s the same reason why people pay a hundred dollars for a concert ticket when they can get the same music on a 15 dollar CD with better quality sound. The experience is what you’re paying for.

Starbucks hit the wall when it tried to be convenient. They got away from what made them successful. Like the cashier who remembers what you drink before you say it. Like the barista who always gets it right even though you ordered something that sounds like coffee Morse code. They got away from “the experience.”  In trying to ram through espressos and customers and expansion plans, they went from being extraordinary to being just plain ordinary.

Stock prices fell, but then Starbucks regrouped. They closed some stores. They placed greater emphasis on training employees. They put the community and neighborhood back in Starbucks, and they even used “stealth stores.”  That’s when they take the name “Starbucks” off the door. Then they get to see if people value experience or just the name Starbucks. Say what you will, but now Starbucks’ stock is at a 52 week high.

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke via satellite with a class of our emerging leaders located at CMEL in Palm Coast. They wanted my thoughts on leadership. I told them about how the agency has been calling for a NextGen for air traffic control. I told them that it’s time for a new NextGen. .

We need a NextGen for leadership. I think that over the years, we’ve focused almost exclusively on getting the passenger from point A to point B. Since we’ve set records for safety and efficiency in a system that’s exponentially more complex than anyone else’s, I’d say we’ve gotten that down very well.

But in so doing, we haven’t paid enough attention to our real strength — our own people. Like Starbucks, I think we need to refocus. As everyone in this room knows, aviation is a business where even small details have big consequences. Starbucks learned that too. When it comes to aviation, even one degree over the course of a long flight can mean the difference between looking for LAX and landing at Palmdale. That’s OK only if you’re looking to see Kobe Bryant play for the Palmdale Lakers.

All kidding aside, as an agency, we need to make a course correction. We all know aviation is changing, and our workforce is changing right along with it. As our workforce changes with all of the new hires, it’s important that our managers — us, you and I — understand the generational differences and how to manage a diverse group. As managers, you’ll really need to be change agents. You need to spend the extra time with the folks with whom you work.

You need to go the extra step to ensure that they understand the path the agency’s on now with NextGen and facility collocations and consolidations. And by no means is that a complete list.

I’m looking to you for help in making it happen. I expect the core of leadership to come directly from you. Leadership isn’t a slogan. It’s not a program. It’s a lifestyle.

Look at the things that the people of this agency have been able to accomplish. 70 thousand flights a day — as a matter of routine. A safety record that is second to none. In the 40s and 50s, we had a crash a couple times a month. Now, we have stretches of non-fatal commercial service that stretch beyond two years, and we think that’s still too often.

And when we have a problem, we issue a call to action. We did that for our runways. The result? Nationwide, serious incursions are now down by 50 percent. We did the same thing with a call to action in New York. Long delays — the ones that really get under your skin — are down there too. I issued a call for professionalism to the airlines, and the chief pilots couldn’t get in line fast enough to help us raise the bar.

As an agency, we know how to get things in gear.

Let’s be candid here, friends:  people are not gears. I recently found that Bombardier does a particularly good job of recognizing this. Their aerospace group went from being shell-shocked by layoffs and cuts all the way to being the place to be at Bombardier. They did it by energizing the workforce. It was energized from top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top and every place in between. Each employee at all levels took responsibility for making that division the best place to be. Well, it worked. And I think it worked because it wasn’t a program. It wasn’t a policy. It was an awareness by everyone at all levels all the time. These people were inspired to blaze a trail all by themselves if need be. But from what I saw at Bombardier, no one had to go it alone. They all recognized that theirs’ was a workplace in trouble, and together they fixed it. They weren’t busy on placing blame. They were busy about fixing what needed fixing, whether it was their “fault” or not.

It’s amazing what happens when you get a vision for greatness by an energized workforce.

All of this leads me to say pretty simply that the people of the FAA have wants and needs, but what they want most of all is to do a good job, a job that matter, and to feel like they are making a contribution.

When I look at the surveys, I see that people complain about morale, but to a person, they love their jobs. When I go into the field in Western-Pacific or Southwest or anywhere else, to a person, they tell me about how great their jobs are. The turnover rate from this agency is very, very small. That tells me that this is a good place to work. You can always spot a bad place to work because people leave.

So what’s the disconnect? I think part of it is that we’ve lost sight of people being our greatest resource. There’s also a tendency to think that leadership is something that happens only in the box at the top of the org chart.

I’m looking for you to set examples for each and every one of the people with whom you work. Notice, I didn’t say your people or the people who work for you. These are our colleagues. They work with us, not for us. If anything, we all work for the taxpayer.

We need to respect everyone as individuals. Respect our many similarities and differences. Both of these make us stronger. Respect what everyone does, because even though they may not be on the boards five days a week or out inspecting aircraft, chances are they’re doing something that is indeed critical to supporting those that do.

When you operate in a way that draws a positive response from those around you, it will catch on. That’s leadership. We have a mission, and an energized workforce will set records for finding new and better ways to get the job done. You’ll also notice that energizing people will spur leadership at all levels, not just in the managerial or supervisory ranks. When that happens, our culture will really take a step up.

There will be naysayers. True story. I heard about a manager who said a simple hello to an employee. No response. When he said, “Hello” again, he was ignored again. So the manager sits down and says, “What’s wrong?” The employee said, “I don’t talk to people who wear neckties.” Simple enough. The manager takes off his tie and asks, “What can I do to make things better here for you?” And with that, without a word, the employee stood up and walked away.

That anecdote reminds me of an unwritten rule — I call it the 10-80-10 rule. It goes like this:  There are 10 percent who will disappoint us always. Don’t let them absorb 50 percent of your time. Instead, remember the 80 percent who will give 110 percent all the time and the 10 percent who will give 120 percent 24/7.

Those last two groups are where we need to spend the bulk of our effort. Those are the employees who really get what public service is all about. That’s where our energy should go.

In closing, let me remind us all that as managers — as leaders — we need to do the right thing, even when no one is looking — especially when no one is looking. I’m looking for a personal commitment from you to always push for greatness. Always push to energize. When someone else scores a touchdown, be the first one to cheer.

We need to get back on course, folks. Starbucks learned that lesson. And I think we’re on course to make things right. And as Nike says, just do it.

Thank you.