Company Safety Fight: 'Don't Be Rushed, Don't Be Intimidated, Don't Be Pressured'
People's lives are at stake. Also, a couple's dirty laundry and shared reputation misery and women on social media causing deep pain to... a respected, beloved woman
When you are working in a place with questionable or obvious ethical shortcomings or failings, you can come to believe that you can’t do much about it, which is what leadership hopes you will (falsely) believe. This leads to analysis paralysis or fear-driven timidity.
"Remember: Don’t rush, don’t be intimidated, and don’t be pressured into doing something that doesn’t pass the ‘smell test,’” the American Airlines Pilots union cautioned its members. “Just because it’s legal doesn’t make it safe.”
This was in response to a "significant spike in safety- and maintenance-related problems,” the union stated, directing pilots to remain diligent.
This reminder from that leadership is communicating that together the members of the union don’t have to do what is expected that isn’t ethical or “right” and that management satisfying legal requirements isn’t enough to be determined as reasonable safety measures.
There is healthy power in numbers of courageous people who are willing to stand up publicly and privately in a business context for the safety of others and themselves.
"While United Airlines is currently under public and government scrutiny, it could just as easily be American Airlines," the union accurately, wisely said and Minyvonne Burke, writing at NBC News, reports.
The union described what it sees as clearly dangerous and deeply concerning.
The APA says "problematic trends" include tools left in wheel wells, improperly closed-out maintenance actions, items left in the safe area near jet bridges, collisions between planes as they are being towed or tugged and "pressure to return aircraft to line service to maintain on-time performance due to a lack of spares."
Management had to reply of course to the claims. Be forewarned, it wasn’t smart or effective. It’s true what they communicated, but let’s be honest, it was only expressed to deflect its responsibility in the relationship:
“… safety at any airline is a shared mission and it’s especially true at American,” they said.
Executive management is not accepting its lion share of responsibility for safety for passengers and crew. They communicated what is obvious yet not what is also true.
It would have been more responsible and impressive to express something along the lines of, “We have fallen short of our standards and we need — and will — do better.
“Our pilots care about you and that’s why we have great respect for them and their attention to detail and safety. Here is what we specifically plan to do… We will be implementing these corrections immediately, starting...
“Your safety — and the safety of our people — has to be our strongest priority, commitment and duty and we will prove it in all future decisions and actions. We’re sorry for not being better than we have shown. We will earn your trust.”
Couples, Dirty Laundry and Reputation Misery
Broken relationships don’t always cleanly end the destructive feelings and attacks.
The Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt conflict continues to burn out of control:
“Angie is glad the truth is finally out there,” a source told Life & Style. “Brad, on the other hand, is at his wit’s end, telling friends that this nightmare never ends. It just keeps getting worse.”
Who’s winning when it comes to peace of mind, a happy life and reputationally?
You can’t determine a “winner” in this sea of pain.
Two reputations, cracked and damaged, being dragged through the mud even if each person has supporters (sort of like Amber Heard and Johnny Depp).
A painful reality, in addition to them, is that their children, have front rows to the drama and likely are also suffering emotionally and psychologically and maybe also physically and in other ways.
There is conflict management that could be committed to that could assist in bringing the family to a more peaceful place and mitigate the deep and wide pain.
You May Not Have All the Facts or Context in Criticizing Someone
The public really is terrible sometimes; full of itself and downright shameful. It cares about its feelings, from experiences, conclusions and judgment, but less about other people, as it claims.
Simone Biles, a seven-time Olympic champion, has had to personally learn this nasty, painful reality. Critics of her husband, a man she loves, don’t care about her feelings, they selfishly care about expressing their own. If they did care about Biles, they wouldn’t have communicated what they have online and in the media.
Let’s go “swimming” in this thick, stinking muck for a moment:
“Simone Biles admitted that the backlash her husband, Jonathan Owens, faced following his viral interview on the “Pivot” podcast took a serious toll on her mental health,” Nicki Cox writes about at Page Six.
Owens honestly (although incredulously) said in December 2023, he didn’t know who Biles — the most decorated gymnast of all time — was before they started dating. Maybe he’s not into the Olympics or gymnastics or not a follower of current sports events outside football, his profession, or other preferred sports.
This admission of course, predictably, was considered a great offense and demeaning.
Owen didn’t help himself when he said that he was more of a “catch” than the world-wide known and admired, beloved Biles. Uh oh, Jonathan: Incoming!
Social media users exploded in disgust and anger. Biles has been stunned and harmed by the blowback and disrespect towards her husband.
She explained, Cox reports, on an episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that Owens “never said (she) wasn’t a catch.”
“He said he was a catch,” the Biles says. “Because he is! I’ve never met a man like him.
“I go on Twitter and everybody’s like, ‘Divorce this man. He’s mean!'” Biles recalled. “I’m like, ‘He’s the sweetest. He praises the ground that I walk on.’ Truly, I’ve never met a man like him … he truly goes out of his way to do anything for me.”
She said he was amused by the outrage but then, the hurt settled deep in her mind.
“I thought it was hilarious at first and then it hurt my feelings. One night I broke down and I’m like, ‘Why are you guys talking about my husband like this? You don’t know him. You don’t know who he is and if anybody’s met him, you know he’s the sweetest guy, will do anything for anybody,’” Biles says.
“That really hurt that they were talking about my husband like that. For me, it’s like, talk about me all you want, but don’t come for my family, never.”
I’ll speculate that a chunk of Owen’s ongoing critics will tell Biles that she will learn eventually what a bad person he is and that her husband speaks like an unappreciative, unloving, controlling, egomaniacal, abusive husband and man, period.
That of course could be revealed as true one day. Biles, however, isn’t experiencing it and isn’t conveying that she is unhappy or miserable and it’s her relationship, her judgment of Owen’s communication and their marriage to judge, not those with trauma who are ensnared in confirmation bias and jumping to emotional conclusions.
By the way, yes, men absolutely judge women prematurely on communication that may or may not accurately represent women’s character.
That’s equally damaging.
Interesting Question I Came Across This Week
“What's the punishment for not learning a lesson the first time?”
Adeline Dimond
Maybe we learn quickly. Sometimes though, we may not “get it” initially and that’s when we are becoming somewhat of an enemy of ourselves because of the consequences or punishments we are inflicting, now or eventually.
It can make us look less intelligent, self controlled and decent than we actually might be in reality. That also sets us up for harsh judgment.
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Michael Toebe is a reputation consultant, advisor and communications specialist at Reputation Intelligence: Reputation Quality, assisting individuals and organizations with further building reputation as an asset or ethically protecting, restoring or reconstructing it.
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