Page 66 - How We Lead Matters

The Credo

On September 11, 2001, when the skies closed over the United States, they
might as well have fallen for those who worked in the travel industry.
At Carlson Wagonlit Travel, our agents worked long, emotional hours
finding accommodations for stranded travelers, facilitating baby-sitting serv-
ices for parents unable to get home, even advising National Guard members
on what to do when they realized their uniforms no longer fit. Our hotel
employees converted one of the country’s most beautiful ballrooms at the
Regent Wall Street into a first responders’ relief station. Our T.G.I. Friday’s
employees cooked and delivered food twenty-four hours a day to distraught
and stranded travelers.
When we heard the news at Carlson headquarters that the World Trade
Center towers had been hit, we called immediately for a phone bridge to
communicate with our employees in more than 150 countries. Our instruc-
tions were simple: Take care of each other. Take care of our customers. Take
care of our competitors’ customers. Take care of your communities.
Finally, we told them that if we lost communication, we were authoriz-
ing them to act according to our company’s credo, which requested this of
them: “Whatever you do, do with integrity. Wherever you go, go as a leader.
Whomever you serve, serve with caring. Whenever you dream, dream with
your all, and never, ever give up.”
All day long, I received reports of unspeakable horror and then corre-
sponding acts of heroism. My heart rose and fell like a roller coaster. I had
countless reasons to be proud of Carlson employees over the coming days. If
only the great highs hadn’t required that great plunge.

Marilyn Carlson Nelson 49