Travelling without a map can be risky business. Intuition and luck will only get you so far. You might get to your destination or you might just go around in circles. It’s no different in leadership where the lack of a roadmap – vision, strategy and goals – can lead to a somewhat meandering journey. [...]
Actor Bob Denver will always be remembered for his role as the clueless first mate Gilligan on the 1960’s sitcom Gilligan’s Island. And that’s about it. Denver acted in other television roles but generally spent the rest of his career being identified as for his role as Gilligan. Bob Denver was typecast. He was, in [...]
I attend a monthly leaders meeting where nearly all of the participants bring laptops or iPads. Ostensibly, the organization is promoting a paperless work environment so we’re encouraged to use software such as OneNote and Good for our agenda items and note taking. What I’ve noticed at the last few meetings is that nearly everyone [...]
Some of the most frightening aircraft accidents are classified as CFIT: controlled flight into terrain. This is generally where the pilot flew the airplane into the side of a mountain or into the ground. In most cases, the pilot didn’t mean to point his airplane into the ground. But that’s where it ended up. In [...]
Just over one hundred and fifty health leaders from across Canada, the US, Europe and New Zealand came to Vancouver this week to answer a call for help. The call came from one of British Columbia’s health agencies which, like many health service organizations, is struggling with how to recast the system to ensure safe, [...]
It’s been said that flying is relatively simple – but landing can be a challenge. What goes up must, eventually, come down. Leaders are often very good at launching great ideas but the tricky part is landing that idea so that its successful. Many a great idea has died from fatal execution or a crash [...]
We hear a lot about the problem with productivity in North America. The implicit (and often explicit) message is that we are simply not producing enough widgets for the given amount of time and investment compared to workers in other countries. In other words, work smarter, faster or more efficiently. Do more with less. Less [...]
There is a lot that leaders can learn from flying. In a previous blog we talked about the importance to pilots and real leaders of planning, ensuring your aircraft (or team) is airworthy and effective communication. In this blog, we continue the discussion by looking at how some basic flying skills can help you be [...]
There are a lot of parallels between leadership and aviation. And a lot of leadership thinkers, writers and practitioners have used aviation metaphors to get their message across. Keep your organization straight and level. Use a long runway to let your ideas take flight. Make sure you have the right people on the (Air)bus. I [...]