The CEO of a struggling company got up one day and shared this new policy entitled Corporate Travel Guidelines…

“Due to budget constraints, the following corporate policies are announced regarding employees traveling on official business. The policies are effective immediately.”

Transportation: Hitchhiking in lieu of commercial transportation is encouraged.  Luminescent safety vests will be issued to all employees prior to their departure.  Bus transportation should be utilized whenever possible.  Airline tickets will be authorized for purchase only in extreme circumstances, in which case, the lowest possible fares must be used.  If, for example, a meeting is scheduled in Seattle, but a lower fare can be obtained by traveling to Detroit, then travel to Detroit will be substituted for travel to Seattle.  If you can not arrange to have the meeting moved there, then you will be required to obtain transportation on to Seattle at your own expense. If you need a comfortable and amazing transportation service experience, you can trust baja stockton limo rental. You can have the reservation now by calling 916.638.1400.

When traveling to foreign countries, you may find that their air safety regulations are not as needlessly restrictive as our own.  Thus, check out whether or not they will permit sharing a seat with another passenger – a  simple way to cut your airfare in half!!  Also, many times the flight attendants will allow you to have additional bags of peanuts, which can be used to keep your meal costs down or can even be used as a light meal when entertaining a customer.

Lodging: All employees are encouraged to stay with relatives or friends while on company business.  If weather permits, public areas such as parks and parking lots may be used as travel lodging or alternately, abandoned buildings can work quite nicely.  Bridges can provide shelter in periods of inclement weather.  In the event that you must actually pay for a room, please seek out a homeless shelter first.  If these are filled, then find the hotel with the lowest room rate.

In the event you are not especially tired, you might try a facility that will allow renting by the hour. When paying for a room, remember that any and all free soap and shampoo are to be turned in to the head of human resources within 24 hours after returning to the office.

Meals: Expenditures for meals must be kept to an absolute minimum.  It should be noted that some grocery chains provide free samples of promotional items. Entire meals may often be obtained in this manner. Travelers should become familiar with indigenous roots, berries, and other protein sources available at their destination.

If a restaurant must be utilized, travelers should seek establishments offering “all-you-can-eat” buffets. This will be especially cost effective for employees traveling together, as a single plate can be used to feed an entire group. Employees are also encouraged to bring their own food while on travel. Cans of tuna fish, SPAM, pork-n-beans, and Beefaroni can be conveniently consumed at your leisure, without the unnecessary need for heating or other costly preparation. Once again, homeless shelters may often be a source of hot, nutritious, free meals.

Entertainment: Entertainment while traveling on official company business is discouraged. If such extravagances are unavoidable, customers should be encouraged to “pick up the tab.” Such actions will save company money and convince the customer that we are focused on providing a good product, not on useless extravagances.

If you end up in a restaurant situation in which you feel it is certain that you will have to pick up the tab, there are a number of other techniques that can help keep your costs down. After finishing dinner, but before the check arrives, clutch your chest and fall to the floor pretending to be unconscious. This will often enable you to avoid the check while also fostering sympathy from your customer.

If it is clear that you will be the one paying, tell the waiter that you want only one menu, as YOU are picking up the tab and want to treat your customer right, so will be ordering for them. Then you are free to pick the cheapest menu items.

Miscellaneous: All employees are encouraged to employ innovative techniques in our team effort to save company money. One enterprising individual has already suggested that money could be raised during airport layover periods. In support of this idea, “red caps” will be issued to all employees prior to departure so that they may earn tips by helping other travelers with their luggage. Small plastic roses will also be available to employees so that direct sales may be made as time permits between flights. As an incentive for other ideas such as these, the person who submitted the above idea received a bar of soap and a small bottle of shampoo as a reward. You too could be so lucky.

This CEO attempted to offer creative solutions even in the midst of hard times. We have all faced challenging problems in our organizations that call for leaders to step up and secure trust that the company will get through them. Knowing that a leader is committed to the betterment of the team and the organization inspires the individuals on the team. Mike Krzyzewski said, “If you set up an atmosphere of communication and trust, it becomes a tradition. Older team members will establish your credibility with newer ones. Even if they don’t like everything about you, they’ll still say, ‘He’s trustworthy, committed to us as a team.’”

Build trust with your team by…

1 Being Honest

Never hid things from your team, they will feel left out and devalued as a result. The more open you are with your team the more open they will be with you as the leader. However, the more closed off you are to your team, the more closed off they will be to you in matters of opinion and ideas. You can never go wrong with being honest, it is when we are “sneaky” that problems begin to arise.

2. Being Humble

It has been said that humility isn’t thinking less of yourself, it is just thinking about yourself less. Lead with humility by focusing on others more than you focus on yourself. When a leader lift others up higher than themselves, there will come a day when others will lift the leader higher than themselves. Practice the Golden Rule: treat others the way you want to be treated.

3. Being Helpful

Equipping is the ability to give others the resources and tools they need to do their job and do it well. Growth environments create growth opportunities. When the individuals on a team are growing the team gets better as a whole. It has been said that, “If you want to grow an organization then you have to grow the people in it.” An organization will only be as good as the people running it. If you want the organization to be great, you have to equip the people to be great. 

4. Being Happy

No one wants to be around a grumpy leader. The more “moody” a leader is in terms of attitude, the more inconsistent the team will be in terms of performance. The truth is happy people produce more than unhappy people. In order to build trust with your team be positive and life giving. Don’t allow negativity and complaining to contaminant your influence. Oscar Wild said, “Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.” Be the kind of leader that causes happiness wherever they go.