Where Is Your Wallet?

I started out this morning at 4:30 a.m. taking CeCe to the airport for a 6 a.m. flight to North Carolina to meet up with several of her girlfriends for four days in the mountains.  

When we pulled into the airport departure lane this morning, I jumped out and unloaded CeCe’s 49.8-pound luggage (she utilizes every ounce). As I unload her carry-on, I see CeCe frantically looking in her purse. She yanks the luggage handle from me, flips it over and unzips this overpacked suitcase. "What’s wrong?" is barely out of my mouth when she breathlessly responds, “I can’t find my wallet!”

Now, I'm back on the interstate driving way too fast. Thankfully, I arrive home safely, hit the garage door, leave my truck running and frantically search the house. No wallet.

Grabbing my phone, “CeCe, you must have that wallet. It is not here.” I can hear the anxiety in her voice as she confirms, “No, I don’t! Did you look on my desk, in the closet, in our bedroom, the kitchen?” Yes, yes, yes and yes. “Did you look in the laundry room?” What?! Running down the hall, I flip on the light and behold, right in front of me is her wallet laying on the folding table.

Grabbing it, I leave the house and jump in my truck to sprint back to the airport knowing it's going to be close. Four minutes from the departure lane and as my phone rings. I hear CeCe’s voice quivering, “It’s too late, they locked the door.”

I know she is devasted and feels awful. She rescheduled for a noon flight later that morning which had other complications resulting in CeCe being grounded again. Interestingly, that 49.8-pound piece of luggage is the only thing that made it to North Carolina and back! Let’s leave those details for another blog.

As I reflect on this life lesson, I know that CeCe has saved me countless times by asking me the right questions as we pull out of our driveway departing on a trip. How often do we attempt a trip, a project or maybe a proposal where we do not double-check to ensure we have everything we need to be successful?

Driver’s licenses and boarding passes are easy ones, yet this critical preparation goes beyond travel as it impacts our business lives and successes. I think about missing key deliverables for a client meeting or not researching relevant insights for effective messaging on client projects or proposals. Most of the time, the critical things are easy to do AND easy not to do. How often do we show up for key team meetings, prospect or client meetings without being fully prepared? Where is your wallet?