Dave Neeleman – JetBlue

Heard Dave Neeleman, founder and CEO of Jet Blue Airways give a talk at Stanford’s School of Engineering last night.

I flew Jet Blue once, to NYC, and was impressed with the experience – all leather seats, spacious leg room, multi-channel TV in every seat, and all ticketless. So I was curious to see the force behind this company.

What I didn’t anticipate was how soft-spoken and understated he appeared. Here’s a man who didn’t take stock options when they were offered.

Why? Because he already had 20% of the company, and that was enough. He donates his salary to a fund for helping employees who are facing catastrophic events in their lives. He spends at least 3 hours a week on his own airline flights, interviewing every passenger and helping out the crew members serving snacks and cleaning up after the flight. Talk about walking your talk. On top of all that he has nine children.

His parting words of advice to the gathered couple hundred aspiring entrepreneurs was to ask yourself, “if your company went away tomorrow, would anybody miss it? Would the customers miss your products or services? Would your employees miss working for your company?”

Important questions. Good reminder that we all want our lives to have meaning. There’s no reason that this fundamental desire should fly out the window with regards to work.

 

A year ago

A year ago this month, my housemate and dear friend for many years, Elisabeth Targ, MD, was diagnosed with brain cancer, a condition which rapidly progressed until it overtook her last summer.

It was Easter weekend when the results came back from the MRI of the golf ball sized tumor on the right hemisphere of her brain.

A year ago today she was recovering from her surgery to remove the tumor, was walking without pain, doing yoga every morning, beaming as much love as she could to all who came to visit. She was asking forgiveness of everyone, including me, whom she felt she had slighted or wronged.

The enormity of what she was facing weighed down on all of those of us around her. Spring was here, the daffodils, tulips, and roses in the garden were all blooming. ET came into my room after a shower, and laid down naked on a towel, telling me about her future plans with her husband-to-be, our other housemate, Mark.

I listened with as much love as I could, trying not to let my fear of the future jinx her chances for a miraculous recovery and the possibility of the fulfillment of her dreams. She laughed about her nudity, telling me she didn’t care anymore and hoped I didn’t mind.

It’s the small moments I remember.

How you know if your spiritual practice is working

The Vatican (Feb 2003) released a tome condemning everything remotely connected with “New Age”.

Apparently some group of researchers in Rome has been studying the Age of Aquarius for several years and has chosen this time, when Catholics world-wide have had their faith in the church rocked by widespread sexual abuse scandals, to denounce all progressive thought.

Included in the list of baddies are yoga, acupuncture, transpersonal psychology, holistic healing, meditation, EST, Esalen, the Findhorn gardens, and Jung, all determined to be fundamentally anti-Christian. Absurd really. Galileo all over again.

A woman once asked a Tibetan Lama, how do I know if my spiritual practice is working? He replied, “it is working if you are becoming a softer, more gentle, more compassionate human being. If not, it’s not working.”

This is the essence of living a Christian life. Practices that help develop this outcome are what should be encouraged, not condemned by Catholic leadership.