Back in October 1998, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to to do a cross-county speaking tour.
What an amazing and unforgettable experience.
Traveling from sea-to-sea, making 19 presentations in 14 locations in 10 days.
Full per diem speaker's fee, all expenses paid, sponsored by the Toronto-Dominion Bank and accompanied by the senior vice president of business banking...which assured first class treatment and accommodation.
Easier Said Than Done
One of the memorable events occurred as we were leaving Winnipeg, bound for Halifax, via Toronto.
When we were checking for the flight, we were advised that the Toronto-Halifax portion of the flight had been canceled.
As I started to wonder how we could solve this problem, John, the vice president simply thanked the attendant for advising us. After having checked in, he pulled out his cell phone, made a call and left a message advising some one...I have no idea who...of the situation.
He then told me the problem would be looked after.
After the flight left Winnipeg, John was aware that I was still uncomfortable about the situation. Once again he reassured me that everything would be OK and told me to trust the process.
At the time trusting the process was easier said than done. 
Once in the airport in Toronto, we saw two gentlemen who appeared to be limousine drivers, one of whom was holding a sign with John's name on it.
From the man holding the sign, we learned that John and I would be driven to our homes for the night, and picked up early the next morning to continue our our flight to Halifax.
At that point, I knew what it meant to trust the process.
A Surreal Day
Late last week, I was reminded of the importance of trusting the process.
Thursday was an unbelievably surreal day. Without going into details, I had appointments with 2 doctors in different parts of the city, an appointment with a lawyer, a document to be 'authenticated' by the provincial government and a minor customer service issue to resolve with a major retailer.
Certainly with that kind of a to-do list there was the potential of a nightmarish day from hell.
However, at the beginning of the day, I made the conscious decision to be extra nice to everyone I met and dealt with.
Everything...and I do mean everything...worked smoothly.
So smoothly in fact that I even had time for lunch...which was the ultimate surreal point of the day.
The restaurant that I randomly chose was run by two guys who looked like they were taking a break from their pre-Olympic weight training.
Overall I trusted the process...and it worked.
Getting On With It
Ironically, the next day when I was about to mail the authenticated document, I started to fret over whether Canada Post would lose the item I was about to mail.
When I realized how silly I was being, I put the stamps on the envelop...and mailed it regular mail.
Given the events of the day before, I simply had to trust the process.
Marketing is a process that can...and often is..carefully prepared and planned.
But when it comes to launching the process, we have a crisis of confidence...much as I did when mailing the authenticated document.
There comes a time in planning our marketing that we have done everything we can possibly do.
At that point, the right and only thing to do is to get on with it and trust the process that we have created and started.
Now...if only I can totally eliminate that teeny tiny niggling doubt about the delivery of the document.
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