My co-author, Charlie Green, and I are celebrating 10 years of partnership this month. You may have watched our little Jib-Jab samba. You may have even sent me a congratulatory message via LinkedIn—in which case, there’s a good chance what I say next is going to either offend you or sound ungrateful or both.

I got to travel stand-by the other day. My experience was a happy one: I made the flight and got home at 7pm instead of midnight—hooray. It reminded me, though, of a time I witnessed three stand-by passengers whose experience was crappy, not happy. And I share it because it’s an important lesson for all of us to be mindful about what we say when we have to deliver bad news.

You might remember when I wrote about the trust lessons we can all learn from a series of distinctive greeting cards for cancer patients. They were developed by Emily McDowell, an artist and cancer survivor, who found a way to bring levity, honesty, and genuine empathy to bear in the face of sickness and suffering.

Last week’s post about role models, and the ways they help us have the courage to stand out, reminded me of an airline magazine article about Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts.