'Think Bigger' for Transformational Change

Every day that I wear my running shoes, I remind myself of a mantra that I chose to be my gospel in leading change - 'Think Bigger.' These words are inscribed on my shoes to remind me of the importance to stretch the bounds of what I believe is achievable so that I can have an even greater impact - in my work, in the community, and in our family. These words have shaped my career and life, and equally importantly, they have influenced others who I have led and met throughout my journey.

The teams that have worked with me over the years will share with you that they've heard 'Think Bigger' repeatedly. They are words that I've used to motivate individuals who have been bound by history and by a corporate culture which they believed [incorrectly] to limit what they can impact. When releasing the shackles and providing a runway, I have seen individuals and teams do incredible work with far-reaching and long-lasting impact.

Undertaking transformation - which comes in many different forms - often follows a variety of methodologies to ensure that the approach taken is thoughtful, purposeful, organized and technically executed, underpinned by strong leadership and change management to maximize success. If you believe people are a big part of the equation to achieve transformative change, I have found that to 'Think Bigger' helps create inspiration, motivation, action, and ultimately results that otherwise would not be achieved.

To 'Think Bigger' doesn't alter the process of transformation; rather, it impacts the outcome and results you ultimately achieve. It makes the unachievable more achievable.

Flying Commercial Aircraft with Renewable Jet Fuel

Nearly a decade ago, we began to imagine a world that enabled us to fly airplanes with jet fuel derived from sources other than petroleum. I found myself in a leadership position to influence within the company and within the industry. In its simplest, the intended outcome was to create additional supply that would help us manage through the volatility of crude markets. Think of it as a hedge. It also became an opportunity to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, address regulatory exposure, and create value for our customers and shareholders. The obstacles to overcome were many - R&D, production and commercialization, financing, public policy, sustainability, public perception, etc.

As one of the single largest end-users with a need for more than 3 billion gallons of jet fuel a year, we chose to become a staunch supporter and advocate. We could have taken a path that many around the world took - voice support yet remain skeptical and stay on the sidelines. Instead, we chose to 'Think Bigger' and push harder for the changes we believed were needed. We effectively and consistently convinced several eras of CEOs, CFOs, COOs, and Boards of Directors. In the U.S., we became the first airline to conduct test flights, the first airline to conduct a live commercial flight, and the first airline to support and achieve commercial scale production and use in everyday flying. We led an initiative, Midwest Aviation Sustainable Biofuels Initiative (MASBI at www.masbi.org), that worked to break down barriers. Importantly, we collaborated with and supported others throughout the value chain to foster technology development and a supporting ecosystem that allowed for the molecular replication of crude oil-derived jet fuel from safe, renewable, cleaner sources. We didn't have to alter any of our aircraft technology or engines, nor any of the infrastructure supporting the movement of fuel. Our bet to 'Think Bigger' and to stretch the bounds of what could be achieved... worked.

Engaging Employees to Ideate and Innovate

In 2013, I had the opportunity to lead the customer experience division at one of the largest airlines in the world. I found a passionate team with lots of ideas and desires, but also team members, leaders, and executives who questioned whether they were moving the dial. After restructuring the team and creating new departments with specific focus areas and outcomes, we began to have enterprise impact - driving change in service across 90,000 employees with a focus on hospitality, reimagining our global footprint of lounges and premium experiences, empowering employees to handle customer issues and complaints in the moment, and among others, creating better solutions for customers during travel disruption events to address a 9-figure revenue opportunity. Notably, we embedded a customer-centric team in the operations center which allowed us to begin to shift the decision-making process by providing a customer lens to operational decisions. 'Think Bigger' played a role in all of these efforts.

When I reflect on the great work of the team, one example that stands out for me is the work we did to 'Think Bigger' in how we engage with our 90,000 employees in the process of fixing what was broken and to address opportunities on the horizon. We had a tendency as a company, cultivated over many years, to tell employees what we wanted them to do differently. We also had many experiences where we launched initiatives and changed direction because what we launched didn't stick or work. We set in motion a plan to give exposure to employees with great ideas to executives that could provide support and action.

Fast forward, we pushed the boundaries of what the executive team and the company culture was initially comfortable doing. We hit one obstacle after another. We pushed the team and the company as a whole to 'Think Bigger.' Two initiatives transpired from our efforts. We created and launched a social platform to engage 90,000 employees geographically dispersed around the world in the process of ideation and innovation to address executive-sponsored issues and opportunities. Employees had complete transparency into the ideas and the process, and importantly a voice. Executive sponsorship up front also created commitment to action. We started small to test and prove out the impact, and eventually the program implemented globally. Our employees in the field named the program Runway - Where Ideas Take Flight, aptly named for an airline employee engagement platform. Concurrently, we supported a forum within the company that helped expose innovative ideas to a panel of judges comprised of company executives who were empowered to bring ideas to life.

To 'Think Bigger' pushes boundaries and zones of comfort; thoughtfully overcoming near-term obstacles can create long-term value.

What started as a desire to harness the power of a large employee base and decades of experience, transitioned to become transformative change that helped reshape what it meant to engage employees. We took the saying of two heads are better than one to new heights by enabling 90,000 to engage and shape their work and their future.

Inspiring an Operations Team

Most recently in 2015, I took on the opportunity to lead an operations team that had 24x7 responsibility and impact on 150 million customers. It is a team comprised of the most well-respected professionals in that business. They make the impossible happen like clockwork every single day. Their commitment to the customer and their fellow employees was and is unparalleled. However, they were also a team that felt restrained in what they could do and change because they lacked the historical support, executive sponsorship, and the space and time to do what they felt was needed. To 'Think Bigger' allowed the team the permission to reimagine processes, relationships, and technology solutions that they long-desired be incorporated in their work. This was a practical application of 'Think Bigger' to allow improvements to happen.

As the executive responsible, this was about creating the opportunity for a talented team to make the changes needed for the long-term viability of this part of the business. Years of underinvestment and attention made this both difficult (i.e., people had strong beliefs) and easy (i.e., opportunities abounded). A helpful mechanism was the establishment of an Operations Transformation team that led the charge with a strict focus on the future, and in partnership with the other department and team leaders who had daily execution responsibility.

We gained traction and began seeing change take hold quickly. We provided the space to establish safety teams and tools that were lacking - voluntary disclosure, a safety management system, and a peer-to-peer accountability program - and all critical to addressing risk. We laid the foundation through a new mobile, point-of-sale app to become smarter about what our customers like to eat and drink so that we could improve daily aircraft provisioning and take-rates based on the profile of the customers scheduled to fly. We reshaped relationships with partners (previously called vendors) who were instrumental to our daily success. We drove shared accountability with them to achieve results that had not been seen before, while nurturing relationships that created respect, commitment, and action. We visited them on their turf where they raised our corporate flag and with full excitement would suggest this was the first time in the 70-year relationship that a company delegation came to visit them.

To 'Think Bigger' could be simply about enabling your team to achieve their full potential - providing the executive sponsorship, time, space, and support for change.

Give It a Try - 'Think Bigger' and See What Happens

There are many more examples of how 'Think Bigger' played a pivotal role in helping me drive transformative change. I appreciate the support I received from CEOs, Board members, mentors, and fellow executives as we embarked on each of these transformative changes. It's a concept I will continue to deploy and leverage as the risk is worth the value that it creates.

'Think Bigger' allows the human spirit to flourish. It enables industries and companies, large and small, to get a bit closer to realizing their full potential. My running shoes are a small reminder. The memories and experiences of seeing my teams grow and flourish by creating value and long-lasting impact are the reminders that motivate me every day.