Good morning. As Delta Air Lines celebrates its 100th anniversary, CEO Ed Bastian reflects on the leadership lessons he has learned during his tenure.
Bastian served as CFO for several years before becoming president and then CEO in 2016. In these roles, he has helped guide Delta through 9/11, bankruptcy, the COVID pandemic, and now a century of business.
Reflecting on leading the Fortune 500 company for almost 10 years, Bastian shared some key lessons:
What has changed the most is the need to manage many constituencies—shareholders, customers, government, community partners, and, most importantly, employees, he explained. Everything seems to move at hyper speed, and that’s changed dramatically over the last 10 years, he said.
There’s no manual for it; you have to be in the game, learning as you go, Bastian said. “Stakeholder management is one of the most important things CEOs do.”
At Delta, he’s responsible for 100,000 employees. “I’m proud of how the company got through COVID; we didn’t have a playbook for the pandemic,” Bastian said. He emphasized that during such moments, you must ensure you’re taking everyone with you and keep people moving forward.
One way to do that is to portray a positive vision for the future—people want to follow leaders who can guide them somewhere meaningful, he said. As CEO, you must think about what 20, 30, or even 100 years from now will look like, Bastian said. “You can’t delegate that to a planning department,” he said. “You can’t delegate that to a board.” An effective CEO must believe in and embody that vision every day, he added.
Tully wrote that Delta has become the largest U.S. air carrier by revenue, in part due to the customer loyalty Bastian’s leadership has inspired—loyalty that helps the airline withstand crises, like the recent non-fatal crash in Toronto.
Bastian helped build strong employee-management relations in an industry where such ties are often strained, turning Delta into America’s most profitable airline and sharing billions with employees along the way, according to Tully.
Leadership isn’t easy, but it’s most rewarding when driven by purpose.
Have a good weekend.
