Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit
Do the work!
Published Guide updated 2 min 19 sec
A flight in a de Havilland Chipmunk still required a pre-flight checklist and a cleanup afterwards, including degreasing the outside of the aircraft. Sharon applies the same shape to coaching: prepare for where the client actually is, then ask what went well, what could have been better, and what she would change.
Key takeaways
- The rewarding part sits between preparation and cleanup.
- A checklist exists because skipping it has consequences.
- A short debrief is how the next attempt improves.
- The same discipline applies to work, sport and hobbies.
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Edited transcript
A friend took Sharon flying in a de Havilland Chipmunk. They flew down to Murray Field and back, and she was ready to leave for a dance class. That is not how it works. Before you get into an aircraft you do a pre-flight: a checklist, every time, because the cost of skipping it is not the same as skipping it in a car.
Afterwards there is cleanup. Her friend took the inside and the engine, and her job was to put on overalls and degrease the outside for the owner. You cannot, she says, jump into the rewarding part and expect the benefit without the preparation and the work after.
She uses the same shape in coaching. She does not walk into a session without preparing for where the client is and what they need. After a session or a workshop she asks what went well, what could have gone better, what she would do differently, and what she learned. A short debrief, in work or in a hobby, is what makes the next time better. Do the pre-flight, then do the cleanup.
