Business travel can be challenging and exhausting.  Sometimes, things do not go as planned so you need to learn to adapt to and accept ‘change’.

You must learn to go with the flow.  Otherwise, you will generate and receive stress.  Which, of course, is completely unnecessary.

You need to learn to control the things that can be controlled and adjust to the things that cannot be controlled.

As an example. today I got to the airport and upon checking in I was informed that my flight had been cancelled the day before due to a hard landing for my Dash 8 aircraft that resulted in a broken axle on the landing gear.  So, there was no airplane to fly me from the mountain community of Kamloops, BC to Calgary, AB to catch my schedule Air Canada A320 long haul flight home to Toronto, ON.  Therefore, a new plan was needed.

The poor gate agent had to work extra hard to solve my problem, but he did a stellar job and everything was resolved.  I have to fly to Vancouver, BC, then board an Air Canada A321 to get to Toronto – fly west in order to go east.  Sounds crazy, but the end result was that I got to sleep in my own bed tonight instead of an airport lounge or a sub-par motel.  So, I am delight.

 

About the Author:

Michael Martin has more than 35 years of experience in systems design for broadband networks, optical fibre, wireless and digital communications technologies.

He is a Senior Executive with IBM Canada’s Office of the CTO, Global Services. Over the past 14 years with IBM, he has worked in the GBS Global Center of Competency for Energy and Utilities and the GTS Global Center of Excellence for Energy and Utilities. He was previously a founding partner and President of MICAN Communications and before that was President of Comlink Systems Limited and Ensat Broadcast Services, Inc., both divisions of Cygnal Technologies Corporation (CYN: TSX).

Martin currently serves on the Board of Directors for TeraGo Inc (TGO: TSX) and previously served on the Board of Directors for Avante Logixx Inc. (XX: TSX.V). 

He serves as a Member, SCC ISO-IEC JTC 1/SC-41 – Internet of Things and related technologies, ISO – International Organization for Standardization, and as a member of the NIST SP 500-325 Fog Computing Conceptual Model, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

He served on the Board of Governors of the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) and on the Board of Advisers of five different Colleges in Ontario.  For 16 years he served on the Board of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), Toronto Section. 

He holds three master’s degrees, in business (MBA), communication (MA), and education (MEd). As well, he has diplomas and certifications in business, computer programming, internetworking, project management, media, photography, and communication technology.