Editor’s note:

This post is courtesy of Greenfeet Web Marketing Manager, Jill Richard. 

Jill has been reading the  book Linchpin by Seth Godin. It’s a great book and one the entire staff at Greenfeet.com is devouring.  We have two choices in life – we can be a Linchpin or a cog in the wheel. What’s does it mean to be a Linchpin? It’s about being indispensible. It’s about pushing back against fear and removing  the term ‘status quo’ from your vocabulary.  Trust us, its much more fun being a Linchpin. More work, yes, but much, much more fun!

United Airlines has a linchpin – Meet Carolyn.

Linchpin Carolyn of United Airlines

Have you ever noticed that when you are reading a book or watching a movie you find the same ideas or people popping up in other places. Perhaps you buy a car, like a prius, and now it seems like they’re everywhere.

On my flight home from Greenfeet’s main office in Chico, after an uber productive week, I was trying to finish reading the book Linchpin by Seth Godin. I was really enjoying this section, as he kept referencing airports, airplanes and flight attendants. It was perfect timing. Moments before a little turbulence,  I read the section where he mentions his friend sits back and enjoys the ride during times like these. He knows the likely hood of crashing is so slim. With that in mind, I was able to push my lizard brain back and enjoy the ups and downs.

 I continued on to read about how the flight attendants who work in First Class don’t deliver excellent service for the passenger or for the airlines, but for themselves. Now I wasn’t in First Class, but shortly after reading that I noticed Carolyn. One of the flight attendants on my flight with United. She was coming through the cabin collecting everyone’s trash.

 What’s so exciting about that? Was it her smile? She does have a great one. No. Was it her vibrant personality? Again she has one, but no. She was going above and beyond her required job. She was implementing, along with her colleagues, a recycling program. She had two bags one for the cans and one for the non recyclable products.

 Imagine the amount of waste Carolyn is removing from the landfill. Each flight she’s probably diverting at least 200 cans from the trash. Multiply that by all the flights she’s on. Is this a United airlines policy? Maybe it should be, but no. She and the rest of the crew have taken it upon themselves to do more than is expected. Not because they get paid more or because it makes someone else happy, but because they felt it was the right thing to do. They were doing their job and more. They shared a bit of themselves and this green girl appreciated it. Way to go Carolyn.