Sex, Drugs and Business Travel

Just as I was considering my next article in this set, wondering if I could get a bit deeper into the partying and drugs and drinking culture, that whilst prevalent in certain industries, is visibly consistent across most organisations, (especially those with a work-force of 25-45 years of age)….just as I was thinking am I going too far? Mike Beaton, a BA pilot on downtime in Jo’berg literally blows it straight onto the front page of the Sun newspaper, reportedly via a willing and able naked chest.  Very Rock’n Roll.

And so very well timed, to reiterate my point made in my previous article that despite clear policies, companies sometimes still have to deal with behaviour that has gone too far.  There are lots of things that I find particularly interesting about this incident.  But before we go there, I should say that BA and the CAA have handled everything by the book, and the person who escalated the incident also doing exactly what they should have done.

However, I am left wondering what happens now.  To Mike.  And what were the set of circumstances that led to this behaviour, which has cumulated in him losing his job and his pilot’s licence being revoked.  Whilst I can’t comment directly on Mike’s situation, I do know that this sort of behaviour is not uncommon.  Not just in aviation, but across industry at large, drinking and drug use is nearly an everyday occurrence in some sectors.  And the more conservative of you would be surprised to hear which sectors its most prevalent.

It’s common knowledge that the music and film industries have issues with drug use and excessive drinking, we’re probably not surprised to hear that demanding roles across the financial and tech sectors, in fact C-Suite roles generally also have high performers addicted to substances, but this goes further.  It’s present in every industry, because it’s something that affects a cross section of people across the world.  Whoever they are and whatever job they do. 

Recreational drinking and drug use is endemic across Europe, the Americas and Australasia.  And many countries (and states) have differing views on its criminality, ultimately sending a mixed message to people.  We’re sort of left to our own devices to work it out for ourselves, programmes like Netflix’s Fantastic Fungi (watch it, it’ amazing) has sparked a renaissance into psychedelics and the lines of right and wrong (excuse the pun) are being blurred again. Despite heavy penalties and rules in place it’s simply how many choose to relax; not necessarily thinking about the consequences of their actions at the time.

I was first introduced (whilst working) to Class A’s when I was 17 and working at a hotel, (in the late 90s, in a small town) by my manager and it wasn’t a one off, everyone was young and we were working hard and playing hard, thinking nothing of finishing a late shift and driving up to London to go clubbing all night and then back to work the next morning.  We did have a designated driver, but under no circumstances should we have been working, but there was a comradery, we were all in it together. 

We can all be shocked at Mike’s behaviour, but the reality is that this is happening across organisations every day.  Of course, not all job roles have the same level of responsibility as pilots and he took a higher risk for sure, but a lot can be learnt from why he took the risk in the first place and what motivated him to “brag” about it, if this is what it was, maybe he intentionally set the wheels in motion by flagging his behaviour to his colleague, maybe he understood the consequences.

And I think that’s the point.  I think anyone working knows to a degree what acceptable behaviour is and what is not, but it’s a fine line and sometimes the organisation is the enabler to the problem in the first place.  Whether it be part of the culture or something that staff do to cope with their job; At what point does the company turn a blind eye to what is considered company culture to recognising when somebody has a more serious problem.  And when we do recognise it, do we take some responsibility and try to help them, or do we add to that person’s issues by following company directive and firing them?

I reiterate that BA didn’t do anything wrong, I am sure they are also supporting Mike via their medical insurance, should he need it, but for me this story brings home the fact that we are dealing with people.  We need to start building our governance and frameworks about what we know about people, being proactive and open in our approach and perhaps educating our more impressionable employees to the consequences of all of our actions, rather than (in some cases) encouraging the behaviour or pretending it’s not happening.

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