Top Exec Blog (Web Log)

Some words of wisdom for those who love to fly. No doubt this short summary of advice to aviators will resonate with those who have actually flown a plane, or crewed a mission, or perhaps even helped to get the craft off into the wild blue yonder. Hopefully, the ideas will also help others to steer clear of, or better plan for, the many challenges that come with flying from one point on the globe, (say, for example, the UK) to another (such as the USA), and do so successfully. It may be your plane, or it may be your business, but these insights, however you apply them, will help you cross the oceans, make landfall safely and attain your goals.

1) Fuel – Never send out your crew on a journey without carefully planning its fuel needs; whether that’s cash or combustible, the crew must have sufficient reserves in the tank to make the journey. Avoid learning in mid-flight that they’re a bit short of fuel (funds, cash, credit or whatever) to complete the journey. Plan ahead, based on your distance, flight speed and other objectives that will determine the crew’s fuel needs.

2) Flight plan (AKA Strategy) – What is the strategy? How are you going to make the journey? Who will be your back-up pilot when the captain needs rest? Don’t expect to be able to change your flight plan once committed to a trans-Atlantic journey just because of some turbulence or headwinds. Be prepared and stick to the flight plan. As Winston Churchill said, “Never, never, never give up.”⁽¹⁾

3) ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) – What measures are you using to reach your goal? Are they realistic? Have you given it thought and prepared yourself for the time and effort it will take to complete the journey (or make your re-fueling stop)? Do you fly with a plan, i.e., a mission that is going to guide you, sustain you and carry you successfully within your estimated time to your destination? If not, better recalibrate, recalculate and make sure that you’ve done your homework on “time to target” as they say in the military, before taking off.

4) Control Tower Communications – Respond! When your crew is communicating to you from the air, asking for coordinates, guidance, landmarks or whatever, the HQ (Control Tower) must be attentive and responsive. What peril you create for that flight braving the skies when you leave them uninformed, or treat them to radio silence. Simple feedback, detailed instructions, flight coordinates, you name it, but it’s all valuable to the crew that is across the sea flying through the night.

5) Payload – No doubt the flight is carrying more than the crew. More than likely the tower (HQ) has determined in advance what the payload is, and how much cargo or other deliverables need to be onboard to make the flight worthwhile. This is sometimes called ROI, and is something that only the Control Tower can initially determine. Later, after multiple legs of successful flights and missions, the pilot and crew will be able to contribute broadly to the details of future journeys. For now, in the midst of whatever else the Control Tower is doing, it is imperative that the crew be kept aloft with the right information, support and capabilities to deliver the payload, and make the ROI that all involved are committed to delivering.

6) Vision – While many pilots can fly by instruments alone, without the benefit of seeing the landscape, seascape or other visual pointers on the journey, it is more important that the crew and the control tower (perhaps also known as the ground crew) have the vision required to see into the distance, and to understand the challenges and values of making the trip. It is of no benefit to the flight crew or the ground crew to plan the trip, load the plane, put the crew aboard and then have to abort the mission for lack of vision about the who, what, where, when and how of the entire trip. Pilots and ground crews without vision are doomed to failure. Ground crews and control towers that keep putting crews into the air, only to shoot them down with poor vision, lack of courage, and other mission-critical elements will eventually have nothing at all left to show for their efforts, and will see crew members bailing out, or worse, being forced out by the shortcomings of the headquarters staff. In either case, the aircraft will risk crashing due to downdrafts or other problems created by the hesitance or timidity of the control tower and ground crew.

Clearly, then, the crew and the control tower (HQ) need to be completely aligned and in synch. Without clear communication and planning, as well as support for the goals of the mission, the flight will fail. On the contrary, with honest, open and continuous communications, any of the problems, challenges or eventualities that arise during a long-distance flight can be overcome. Even those on Apollo 13, the doomed mission to the moon in 1970 were able to say, “Houston, we have a problem,” and still get the vital support, communication and technical assistance needed to return safely from its mission to the heavens. Remember that, the next time you plan your crew’s trip and flight plan. And remember this final quote from Winston Churchill, “Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. “ ⁽²⁾

Share this post with others, or comment, and thanks for reading.

© Daniel A. Cabrera, Top Exec Partners, all rights reserved, 2011.

(1) Quoted from Brainyquotes.com http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/winston_churchill_5.html

(2) Quoted from Brainyquotes.com http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/winston_churchill_2.html