Carl Guardino's Blog

I recently hosted a luncheon of executives to discuss our on-going efforts to bring more direct flights to San Jose international airport to better serve San Jose and Silicon Valley customers.

Two top executives of an airline were with us to discuss potential service.  Both were smart, capable and articulate. The difference was vast, however, in terms of leadership style.

The first executive responded with all the reasons why it would not work for his airline to offer direct service into and out of San Jose international.  His style is what I call “No, because.”

The second executive, while completely respectful to his colleague, responded with all the issues that would need to be addressed in order to make the direct service work for his airline to fly to San Jose.  His style is what I call “Yes, if.”

At the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, I have the pleasure of working with 375 innovation economy CEOs.  From scrappy startups to global leaders, the common denominator for every successful CEO is a “Yes, if” attitude.  It is finding the win-win whenever possible – the art of the deal – getting to yes.

In your professional and your personal life, are you a “Yes, if” or a “No, because” kind of person? It is easy to say no – and sometimes it is the only response when common ground cannot be found.  But it is more rewarding – more fulfilling – to at least work to explore the possibilities of “Yes, if.”

Here’s Food for Thought . . . Passenger safety before profits.

On January 11, I boarded the inaugural flight on ANA’s 787 Dreamliner between San Jose and Tokyo. The plane lived up to its name – a dream . . . In fuel efficiency, leg room, customer service and spaciousness.

Days later, ANA made the wise, proactive decision to postpone future 787 Dreamliner flights until Boeing works out some electrical issues related to the battery system on the plane. Nearly 24 hours later, the FAA followed with the same decision.

While inconvenient to passengers like me trying to fly back from Tokyo, I admire ANA’s CEO Shinichiro Ito’s decision. Passenger safety before profits. Better a cancelled plane than the risk of a crashed plane.

In Silicon Valley, we have a phrase. . . Version 2.0 . . . It means that the first release of a product has room for improvement. With airplanes, there is no room for error.

Landing the direct flight between San Jose and Tokyo was a major victory for the city of San Jose, our airport and the Leadership Group. Ensuring passenger safety on each and every Dreamliner is even more important.

Here’s food for thought . . . Show horses are great, but work horses are better.

As we prepared for the inaugural flight of All Nippon Airlines’ Dreamliner 787 from San Jose to Tokyo, looking at 13 television cameras along with print and radio media, all I could think was that three years of hard work had paid off.

San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, classy as always, took the podium to thank our staffs at City Hall, the airport and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. After 36 months since the effort was launched, nearly two years since the mayor and I traveled to Tokyo to meet with ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito, the flight is now reality.

Our message to ANA had always been simple – you supply the planes and we’ll supply the passengers.

Making a promise is easy. Keeping it is where the real work begins. For the past year, our teams have reached out to hundreds of companies, scores of CEOs, underscoring the ease in which they and their employees could now fly between Silicon Valley and Tokyo. No more would they have to drive past one of our nation’s most on-time airports to slog up the Peninsula to fly from one of the least on-time airports.

Here is to those work horses who made our dream a reality: Bena Chang, Jessica Zenk, Ed Nelson, Joe Hedges, Kim Walesh, Ed Shikada, Ru Weerakoon and so many more.

Thanks to your efforts, Silicon Valley benefits.  It’s time to take your bow.