Top Talent

1: Create a “No-Spin” Zone

You’re sitting in an airplane stuck on the tarmac. What would you want to hear from the flight deck?

David Eun, vice president of strategic partnerships at Google, knows what he’d do if he were the pilot. Instead of waiting until he had detailed information on when the plane would take off, he would get on the airplane intercom system. He would apologize to the passengers for the delay, share what he was being told by the control tower, and tell them what his experience suggested might happen next. He would keep it brief and to the point, and then promise to update them regularly. He would then do just that, even if he had no new information to share.

“I wouldn’t pretend to know exactly how or when the situation would ...