Page 152 - Never Fly Solo

WALK THE FLIGHT LINE | 125
• Whenever possible, you should share a meal with
someone. Each week, take one person out to
breakfast or lunch from a department other than
your own. It’s a good way to connect informally,
and it will allow both of you to open up and see
each other as people, not just coworkers.
• Schedule a (unannounced) “squadron tour.” Visit
your various “shops,” and randomly, in a way that
doesn’t put anyone on the spot, interview your
wingmen. Ask what their biggest challenges are and
how you can help them.
• Sit in on a strategy session with your marketing
team, or a weekly budget update with a project
manager. Share best practices with these groups. Ask
for suggestions. Step outside your silo.

If I had done some of these things a lot more when I was
in the Air Force, perhaps I would have been able to connect
more with Airman Tyler and would not have been so conde-
scending. Naturally, we all have our bad days. We’re going to
say things and act in ways that rub people the wrong way. As
a New Yorker, believe me, I do that. But sometimes the best
thing to do is to say the words that are absolutely essential to
building and maintaining a wingman relationship. Those
words are “I’m sorry.”
Apologizing won’t necessarily fix the problem or gain
back someone’s favor, but it’s a start at mending a relationship,
and it can do wonders for mending your reputation as well.
Right about now you may be saying, “Look, Waldo, my
wingmen already know me, and I know them. They know I
care.” Well, that may be so, but it’s important to connect
continuously and not take any relationship for granted (espe-