I was considering what our award winners have in common as the Ground Support Worldwide annual awards issues wrap up with Jonathan Bluth’s feature in this month’s magazine. Bluth and Dick Cloud, our Lifetime Achievement honoree from United Airlines, seem to have one major factor in both their favors: They absolutely, genuinely love what they do.
Genuine enthusiasm spreads throughout your team, and eventually the entire company. It’s a delightful endemic. Be excited about your job. Inauthenticity, however, is a repellant for both workforce enthusiasm and team chemistry.
Brice Allen, general manager at Atlantic Aviation’s Austin FBO, says the days that he and Bluth get the opportunity to go out on the ramp and help out are times they cherish. Being out among the aircraft is almost certainly the reason most of us have stayed in this industry. The time in, on and around the aircraft is the best part.
“That's where the rubber meets the road anyway, and that's where we feel passionate about what we do,” Allen says. “Just seeing how important it is to instill the right frame of mind in the safety aspect is paramount in our industry, because we're dealing with very fragile aircraft."
The business is serious. Every moment of the day shouldn’t be. They call it the “Atlantic Attitude” at Atlantic Aviation.
“And that's exactly what it is, that's what it's known within the company, it's the Atlantic attitude,” Bluth says. “And I want [my team] to embrace it, I want you to love what you do, I want you to love the people you're with.”
At the same time, you can’t fake it until you make it. To paraphrase Holden Caulfield, I don’t know anyone who wants to work with, or for, a phony.
And people will suss it out. You don’t have to love your job, but it’s better to be neutral than to demand from yourself that every employee interaction lack a genuine human component. Really, that’s the whole point: being genuine with your team will always instill trust and enthusiasm.
"I don't want you to be here and not enjoying yourself," Bluth says from Atlantic. "I want you to be here and appreciate it, I want you to be a part of the team and I want you to have a blast."
