“We” Focused Communication at JetBlue

May 16, 2017

Every company, every place in general has its own atmosphere. And it’s own communication style. It’s own company culture. The clean and professional atmosphere is sensed immediately as one enters JetBlue’s headquarters, but there is also a burst of friendly color to make the place inviting. Security is kind and respectful, and in the very first room are JetBlue’s company values plastered across the walls. JetBlue displays everything that their company is about within the first few steps of their building so that they can clearly communicate their core values.  

JetBlue’s mission statement reads, “Bringing humanity back to air travel.” The company really wants everyone to know that the focus is not on them, but their customer. Often times, it is easy for a company to get caught up in the “me” mindset, expressing all of the great things about them. While this is still an effective mode of company marketing, We!™ and JetBlue focus more on the “we” mindset which focuses on the other’s needs and how we can meet them.

Outlined in the We and Me Framework, “Our brains generally operate in one of two mindsets. Either ‘me’ or ‘we.’ One is not bad, and one is not good. They are natural.“ Both ways of communicating have a purpose, but We!™ focuses on transforming the “me” into “we” so that no one is put on the back burner.

In our time at JetBlue, we kept asking individual members of the team, “What is it that makes someone good at this position?” And over and over again, communication kept coming up. Each person discussed the importance of making sure the other person understands what is happening, because someone can do all of these great things, even the best things, but if you they do not communicate effectively then no one knows what they have done. Not to mention, things get a lot more difficult when someone is flying a plane and no one has any idea what they are doing.

Some things to consider for a “we”-focused communication include, but are not limited to:

  • Are you making people feel heard?
  • Is your main thought “I said something, so the other person will understand it” (me) or
  • I am communicating to make sure the other person understands? (we)

More tips and tools for transforming “me” to “we” can be found on the We!™’ website. Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates!

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