Don’t expect to spot Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian lingering at the front of the boarding line—he’s usually nowhere near it.

“I’m terrible,” Bastian admitted during an offstage interview last week at the Fortune Global Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “I’m one of the last people to get on board the flight, and our team’s always rushing to make sure that I’m there because planes will not wait for me.”

Bastian, 68, has spent nearly a decade at the helm of America’s most profitable airline, steering the Fortune 500 giant through crises from 9/11 and bankruptcy to the COVID-19 pandemic. After joining Delta in 1998, Bastian rose through six leadership roles before becoming CEO in 2016, but did not observe all of the advice he received for how to be the top boss.

“The worst advice I

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