No Running in Airports

Every trip, right before I step out the door, I pause at the mirror and say out loud: “No running in airports today.” Travel stress can spiral fast—once I’m sprinting to a gate, I’m already off my game. That little reminder keeps me grounded: prepare ahead (check times, renew Flighty, pack smart) and pay ruthless attention to detail (actually read the damn gate change).

Lately the tech world feels full of people sprinting through metaphorical airports—constant urgency, firefighting, burnout creeping in. So what if, on Monday morning, I looked in the mirror and said the same thing about work: “No running in airports today”?

I can’t control every delay or surprise, but I can control my prep: scan the week’s calendar, make sure I’m in the right rooms with clear intent, anticipate project “flight delays” and have rough recovery moves ready. I can control attention: really listen in meetings (not just hear words, catch the undercurrents), notice early signals that something shifted (a quiet pivot in direction, a stakeholder’s tone), and address it before it becomes a crisis.

No guarantees—planes will still be planes, priorities will shift—but calm isn’t something we create out of thin air. It’s something we protect by refusing to run when we don’t have to. Teams do their best work when the pace is sustainable, not frantic.

Here’s to walking, not sprinting.