Leadership
Photo - D. Smith
[originally posted February 2026]
When my son's were Scouts, their Scoutmaster was (still is) the CEO of a company with worldwide operations. I have been on many wilderness adventures with him over the years. I know how he thinks and I have seen how he leads. As CEO he could have enjoyed as much vacation as he deemed fitting; however, he limited himself to the same number of vacation days that he would receive if he were any other employee. He frequently travels all over the globe, but he applies the same travel policy to himself that would apply to anyone else in the company. If the lowest person has to fly economy, he flies economy. On arduous backpacking trips, he quietly carried extra weight with things that others might need or have forgotten to bring along. He was often the first to collect firewood and always set the example. That is inspiring servant leadership.
A few years ago I was in Chicago standing in a boarding line to fly business class to Europe. As I watched the pilot and cabin stewards personally greet the man just ahead of me, I had to introduce myself and ask why they all knew his name. He was the CEO of a multinational manufacturing company. He said he might be their biggest customer as he flies international regularly. As we talked, I asked him if all of his employees enjoyed business class on long and tiring overseas flights. I will always remember his answer - absolutely! He explained that he came up through the ranks and knows how hard international flights can be. On shorter domestic flights, he flies economy just like everyone else. On international flights, all of them enjoy business class. I was impressed! I told him that that he is a good leader. I could tell that within a few minutes in line with him.
Those types of leaders are few in number. They know how to model and establish a servant leadership culture.
Over my careers, I have flown for "work" in commercial planes, a Lear jet, a Citation, a King air, single engine planes, loud Bell Jet Rangers, etc. I was the navigator on some of those flights! I know that my butt got just as sore and I got just as tired as higher ranking people flying with me.
I once lost my luggage for several weeks on Air Malta and I bought cheap clothing and toiletries from markets on Greek islands (I am still using a non-disposable razor and wearing a summer hat from that adventure). It is all part of the travel experience; but it is all nicer if you know that the highest leaders and everyone in your organization are experiencing the same travel classes and risks together as a team. That is Leadership at its best.
