Leadership - A discussion of traits, characteristics, and current news of leaders.

Those of us in LA and perhaps others throughout the country were momentarily distracted from the destruction of hurricanes Katrina and Rita while we watched the drama of JetBlue flight 292 that had a malfunction in its landing gear. Ultimately, the plane touched down safely after circling southern California for three hours,landing with its front wheels turned sideways.

This morning I was listening to KROQ's Kevin and Bean, a morning radio show in LA, as they laughed at the transmission between the pilot and the tower. They joked that the pilot in a time of such enormous stress, barely sounded awake. I thought that was not only a funny observation and quite true but a fascinating study of leadership in crisis.

When I thought about whom the pilot worked for, I wasn’t so surprised at his demeanor under such stress. At a dinner last year, I listened to Dave Neeleman, CEO of JetBlue Airways. I have been a fan of Dave’s ever since I was flying from New York to Los Angeles and Dave spent the entire flight time walking the aisles and talking to his customers.

At this dinner, Neeleman told about a fund he and his employees had created at JetBlue that provides relief for JetBlue employees that are faced with a crisis. It came about when the husband of a flight attendant had a heart attack and died as he was dropping his wife off at the curb at an airport. This event had an impact on the fledgling airline. Within days, JetBlue employees contributed money to help their fellow employee in a time of grieving and financial stress. Neeleman and President Dave Barger matched the employees contribution and founded the JetBlue crisis fund, which offers financial assistance to workers suffering from catastrophic events.

At JetBlue, Neeleman has not only created one of the only profitable airlines in the industry, he has fashioned a culture that plans for and deals with crisis. JetBlue employees have a unity and cohesion that binds them in times of crisis and adversity. It was no surprise to me that the pilot of JetBlue flight 292 calmly and safely landed on the back wheels, then eased onto the askew front tires. I am relatively sure that the pilot did not learn to fly from Neeleman but I am equally sure that his calm and confident approach to a life threatening crisis was greatly influenced by a CEO that has provided effective leadership and example.