Who packed your parachute today?

Charles Plumb was a fighter pilot in Vietnam. He flew 75 combat missions before his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. He survived by ejecting and parachuting behind enemy lines.

He was captured and spent six long years in a North Vietnamese prison. The most remarkable lesson he learned, though, may have been one he learned after he returned home.

Plumb was sitting in a restaurant one day when a man from a nearby table approached him and said, “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!”

Plumb was stunned. “How in the world did you know that?”

“I packed your parachute,” the man replied. “I guess it worked!”

“It sure did,” Plumb responded. “If my chute hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

That night Plumb couldn’t sleep, thinking about the man who had likely saved his life. He wondered what the man might have looked like in his Navy uniform. He thought about how many times he might have ignored the sailor, because he, Plumb, was after all, a fighter pilot, and the other man, just a sailor.

Then Plumb’s thoughts turned to the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully folding the silks of each parachute, holding in his hands the fates of pilots he didn’t know.

Now, when Plumb lectures, he asks his audience, “Who is packing your parachute?”

Everyone has someone (or several someones) who provides what he or she needs to make it through the day, whether they realize it or not.

Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes the day his plane was shot down over enemy territory: his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He needed all those supports to get through his long ordeal.

The parachute-packers of the world keep the rest of us from free-falling to certain failure. So I’ll pose the question to you: Who is packing your parachute?

And you might want to consider a few more questions too. Who made that parachute? Was the fabric substantial, the stitches strong and even? Who taught you how to use that parachute? Was it a seasoned veteran who made sure that your first time wouldn’t be your last time? There are very few second chances where parachutes are involved.

The military presents a perfect example of watching out for each other and working together. Extensive training, both physical and mental, ensures that all the members of a unit understand their roles and can perform under pressure. In life and death situations, it can be no other way.

In business, the pressures are less dramatic, but nonetheless important. So it’s equally important to realize who is making your success possible.

Do you know who is watching out for you, at the next desk or at the daycare or on the freeway? More importantly, have you taken a minute to recognize the folks who go out of their way to make sure you make it? Whether or not you know their names, their conscientious attention to their work affects everyone they touch.

Whom do you trust?

According to a recent study, Americans have fewer people to confide in today than they have had in the past two decades.

In fact, the study, conducted by Duke University and the University of Arizona, found the number of Americans who say they have no one with whom to discuss important matters has more than doubled.

“The evidence shows that Americans have fewer confidants and those ties are also more family-based than they used to be,” said Lynn Smith-Lovin, professor of sociology at Duke University. “This change indicates something that’s not good for our society. Ties with a close network of people create a safety net. These ties also lead to civic engagement and local political action.”

The study was published in the American Sociological Review. The survey found:

• The mean number of people with whom Americans say they can discuss important matters dropped nearly one-third—from 2.94 people in 1985 to 2.08 people in 2004.
• The percentage of people who depend only on family members to discuss important matters increased from about 57 percent to 80 percent.

Many of the individuals I read about and admired while growing up—Dale Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford—always formed groups of five or six people to meet regularly to problem-solve, brainstorm, and motivate each other.

That’s why shortly after I founded Mackay Envelope Company years ago, I set up an alliance with five other envelope manufacturers from around the country. We were all in the same business and yet not competing with each other because of our geographic locations.

We were similar in size, number of employees, and sales mix. Therefore, we could compare apples to apples … meaningful data. We just wanted to learn from each other.

We met at least once a year for 10 years and would communicate quarterly to exchange financial data, marketing ideas, creative selling examples, manufacturing cost systems, bonus plans, and salaries.

I received and implemented many great ideas.

I’ve always been a strong believer in having a “kitchen cabinet” of advisers for most of the areas in which I’ve been involved—business transactions, banking, public speaking, writing books, health care, and so on. You have to surround yourself with people in whom you can confide and brainstorm. And it must work both ways. You have to help them, as well.

As the years go by and the projects change, my trusted group of advisers changes, too.

New ideas and insights are always welcome, but I never forget the people who have been instrumental to my past successes.

This approach isn’t so very different from how many companies operate, with a board of directors. Corporations large and small compete for the best and brightest minds to help the “inside” people—the president and other officers—make major decisions. A good board isn’t necessarily made up of people who are in the same business. It has members with a variety of skills, experience, and interests to bring a broad view to the issues at hand.

That model may seem out of reach for small business owners, but it doesn’t have to be elaborate to be successful. If you don’t know where to begin, look first at your local business association, the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, or a trade organization. Find the leaders in those groups and take them to lunch to pick their brains. Whom do they rely on for advice or to bounce around ideas?

You may not be in the same business, but you are all in business. Chances are, you have more in common than you think. Often the solutions for one business can be adapted to fit another. Then the rest is up to you. You can decide whether the advice will work for you, or perhaps you need to find a different solution.

As Malcolm Forbes said, “Listening to advice often accomplishes far more than heeding it.”

Either way, it’s a win-win. You have gained a confidant who isn’t your direct competitor, and you have expanded your network.

Don’t forget to return the favor when you are asked for help. And don’t be offended if your confidant doesn’t follow your advice; that’s his or her prerogative. What is important in the end is the relationships that you build. As I always say, dig your well before you’re thirsty.