One by one, several dozen agitated people asked the lady at the Northwest gate about the flight delay and if it would actually go and if there were any other choices. I know what people were asking because I was one of them. This was the last flight of the night to Charlotte -- if it doesn't go we stay all night in Detroit.
She kept her head down and did her paperwork and answered yes it will go, no we don’t know when, and no you have no other options. She was all put out answering the same questions over and over and she should have been. Person after person approached her and then slouched away resigned to ignorance and helplessness.
There must have been a shift change after two hours. A new sheriff came to town and she picked up the microphone and announced, “I’m so sorry for the delay, there’s been a maintenance issue. Now, I’ve been told two different things – that a substitute plane is on the way, but we also see that they’ve pushed back our departure time again and that doesn’t make sense but I’ll give it five more minutes and call them and see what I can find out.”
Thank you. The whole mood changed as people relaxed now that they knew something. They didn’t know much, but they felt they knew as much as there was to be known for the moment.
When you’re in the dark about something important to you, you get annoyed and assume two things: 1) someone knows what you need to know and they’re not telling, and 2) they don’t care.
Without realizing it you can keep kids, spouse, coworkers, employees in the dark, keep them guessing and frustrated, and keep yourself busy answering the same question. You’ll earn your attitude and they’ll earn theirs.
Or you can tell them what you know, even if it’s not much, and let them know you’re all in this together.
Either way, you’re sending a message about who they are to you:
No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. – John 15.15
Comments