Tomorrow is the anniversary of MLK’s “I have a dream speech”. On NPR they were talking about how his speeches were incredibly challenging back in his time, especially that one.

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

The point was he used America’s Belief System against it to create change. He held America accountable to its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal”. (The pundits were arguing that this made him a lot less popular then than he is now, which was an interesting piece of historical context.)

The thing about belief systems is that they have to be a stretch to be powerful. They have to define a vision of the future that is not easily attainable. And yet we believe in them just the same, because they contain our aspirations, our collective sense of our better selves. It’s meant to be hard. And when we live up to them it’s powerful. This was King’s relationship to The Declaration of Independence.

It may seem a bit of leap from there to brands, but bear with me. The new cult of Purpose-driven thinking in business, including our own challenger lighthouse identity framework, puts beliefs at the heart of a brand and business. I think that’s good — defining a businesses purpose above and beyond making money is necessary work in times when no one believes in anyone or anything any more and people everywhere are struggling to find meaning in their work — it’s fraught, but good.

So we should expect and want to be held accountable to those beliefs, otherwise, like so many values statements, they become meaningless at best and cynical at worst. Being held accountable is a form of interaction, and that is still the most precious thing for a brand, for anyone, if they see in it the opportunity to connect. Only connect.

And so it’s interesting to see Jetblue caught in the cross hairs of the Steven Slater “scandal”. Whether that particular incident is a meaningful symbol of the state of JetBlue today or not is about to be discovered — their beliefs are on display again. The public — judging by the tons of comments on the JetBlue website — want to see what they are going to do to get in alignment with what they say. They are, like MLK, holding JetBlue accountable to their creed, as JetBlue in its past held the airline industry accountable for treating us all like self-loading freight. They are being challenged back as Challengers always are.

Having defined a vision of the future known as “Putting humanity back into air travel” it’s time for JetBlue to reach for that again. Either that statement means something and the business has integrity, or it doesn’t. I’d like to see them do something really different here, not play it by the book. Whose book is it anyway? Didn’t they get into this to re-write the book? How does “humanity” dictate how they behave with a man who’d clearly had it with a badly behaved passenger and was dealing with the stress of his Mother’s illness on top of his difficult job? What’s the human solution to this mess that makes us all see the scandal, the brand, the world, in a more positive light? That’s the opportunity for JetBlue to define.

As for Mr. Slater, he has become an accidental cult hero for a reason. His plight has touched a nerve. But hiring a publicist to exploit his 15 minutes isn’t the right answer. Humanity must be met with humanity, Steven. Time for you to seize the opportunity in the right way, too. (I suppose a publicist could help with that, but I doubt that would be the intention and rumors of reality shows isn’t helping).

To get back to the historic moment theme, couldn’t this be a “let’s have a beer at the White House” moment for these two players, or even three if you include the at fault passenger, which we surely must. Remember Henry Louis Gates, Obama and the Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. Joseph Crowley doing something similar not so long ago?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32210408/

That was a genius move by Obama. Forty-six years after MLK stress-tested the creed in the most public way, Obama literally brought it home and sought to remind us that, “what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart”.  It didn’t solve the bigger problem of racial tension in America, but it was a real moment of humanity and another in a series of symbols of re-evaluation that this President has created around race.

So come on JetBlue (and New York DA), put humanity back on the agenda, drop the charges against Slater, and figure what can be done differently to help you fulfill on your vision. It’s time to act. As it always is.

One Response to “The Opportunity in Being Held Accountable: For JetBlue and Steven Slater”

1. Anonymous says: August 27, 2010 at 6:15 pm

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