How to Use Travel to Boost Your Leadership IQ

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Lately, traveling for work has been almost a full-time job.

On a recent trip to Southeast Asia, I visited four countries in four days — Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines — before flying straight home. Then, there was a whirlwind tour of Sweden, Germany and Holland that saw my morning run in Stockholm, lunch in Lübeck and dinner in Eindhoven.

As chief of staff with a global tech company, I’m on the road for work two or three weeks a month. While that may be extreme, now that Covid is in the rearview, business travel is back with a vengeance. Worldwide, companies are on track to spend a record $1.48 trillion on it this year — up more than 10% from 2023.

For business leaders, travel comes with the territory. Just ask JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who thinks it’s essential for anyone who doesn’t want to fail. The typical CEO spends only about half their working hours at company headquarters, devoting the rest to tasks that include travel.

It’s crucial to make every trip count. Here’s how a leader can get the most ROI on travel time.

Manage your time and energy wisely

The foundation of every successful business trip? Meticulous planning and managing your time and energy. An hour on the road is worth much more than an ordinary hour in the office. For a leader, that means keeping even closer tabs on how your time is used.

A great executive assistant can be a lifesaver here, but there are basic steps anyone can take. Rearrange your schedule, skipping any routine meetings back home so you can be present at your destination. Figure out what absolutely needs to be accomplished in person, and prioritize. For example, meeting face-to-face with a key customer would be at the top of the list. Maximizing time in transit is important, too — taxis, trains and planes are ideal for catching up on routine office tasks and checking in with HQ.

Arriving energized is equally important. Imagine you didn’t sleep on your flight, haven’t exercised and are in a foul mood. When it comes time to field employees’ questions at a town hall, you can’t fake enthusiasm.

For maximum mental acuity during working hours and to minimize jet lag, I use the Timeshifter app, which was tested by NASA astronauts. On the road, I also aim to live like I do at home in Maryland. Besides sticking to the same morning exercise regimen, I make other non-work routines part of my day. I try to study some Japanese, practice on my travel piano and read, even for just 10 or 15 minutes.

Business travelers are making energy and time management a priority. In a recent survey, almost half said they tweak daily routines before departing to help adjust to their new time zone, while 80% said they extend work trips for leisure.

Deliberately connect with a cross-section of team members

To gather intel on a site visit, leaders should cast a wide net.

I learned that during my time at the Pentagon, I traveled with then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Besides getting briefed by generals, Gates would often hold roundtables where no one was above the rank of staff sergeant. To make everybody comfortable, he asked open-ended questions: What’s working? What’s not working? What should we do differently?

Having served in the Army and in Washington, I know that general officers and policymakers who lose touch with the realities of battlefield and political terrain are running blind. One of the biggest risks every leader must manage is isolation — hearing only what they want to hear from people who are afraid to tell them otherwise.

So they have to get out there on the edge, where an engineer might reveal that a key piece of equipment is broken, or HR lets slip that the competition is paying 20% more for talent, making it tough to hire the best new grads. You don’t hear those anecdotes in the boardroom. Nor do you get to see how site leaders are regarded by their people — and how well they’re communicating the company’s strategy to everyone on the team.

Town halls are invaluable for gaining such insights. Simply walking around is powerful too. Since joining the company early this year, I’ve visited about 25 of our sites, chatting with everyone from management to the folks on the factory floor.

Oscar Munoz used that approach to rebuild United Airlines. After becoming CEO of the struggling carrier in 2015, Munoz embarked on a nationwide listening tour, interviewing mechanics, baggage handlers and flight attendants.

Double down on cultivating key relationships

When it comes to building relationships with colleagues, customers, suppliers and investors, a leader’s physical presence matters. Almost nine out of 10 CEOs say that tech will never replace getting together in person for important meetings. That’s especially true with new relationships, given that more than half of communication is nonverbal.

I recently got back from Japan, where we were running into a roadblock with another company. Because I happened to be traveling there for a board meeting, it was convenient for me to connect with them in person so we could find common ground.

Given the chance, I’ll also forgo Zoom to get to know new key hires in real life — not just how they think through problems but also who they are as a person and what motivates them. That’s probably best accomplished over a meal on their home turf.

The same goes for an investor who’s weighing whether to increase their stake in your company. Meeting in person can be a dramatic confidence booster. Likewise, leaders shouldn’t write off in-person industry events. Trade shows, for instance, are hyper-efficient venues for meeting everyone in your ecosystem, from investors and analysts to customers, suppliers and talent.

Use your presence to light a fire

For a leader, travel can serve another useful purpose: lighting a fire under people.

At any large company, red tape and bureaucracy are endemic. Sometimes, things reach a sticking point where it’s crucial to escalate them up the chain of command. The CEO might use a trip to force progress — or even to delay it.

Let’s say a business is having a persistent low-yield issue, wasting material and manufacturing capacity and missing revenue upside. If the leader wants to investigate that operational challenge, a slide presentation on a Zoom call won’t do. They need to see the factory with their own eyes, walk the assembly line and talk to the engineers.

New Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has the right idea. Although the troubled aviation giant’s headquarters is in Chicago, Ortberg moved to Seattle, where its planes were built.

Ultimately, for any business leader who travels, making an appearance is half the battle. It shows people you care.

And that includes events that might not seem like business priorities. I travel for major company celebrations and holiday gatherings. Will I glean any profound insights on those trips? Not necessarily, but I’m confident it will matter to people that of all places I could be on an important day, it’s with them. I have to run and catch a flight!

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