Rethink Leadership from a Cockpit-Perspective
Capitum distills core leadership principles
from the flight deck –
as exemplified ⇢
A real-world case
A heavily loaded long-haul aircraft is taxiing to the runway. Although the crew has calculated the take-off using the full length of the runway, the captain spontaneously decides to take a shortcut, effectively giving up one third of the available runway distance
»Runway too short«
It turns out the remaining runway is slightly too short. Although the plane becomes airborne at the very end of the runway, it yet impacts an obstacle – causing a breach in the pressurized aircraft body.
Despite the obvious risk that the aircraft could »disintegrate«, the crew continues the 14-hour flight to the destination. What follows is luck – nothing more.
What can Executives learn from this case?
Decision-Making
Avoid »jumping to conclusions« and align the executive-team around a shared decision-making procedure
Distributed Leadership
Taking ownership – If you see it, you own it.
It always starts with you
Dealing with uncertainty
Challenge basic assumptions and build a Shared Mental Model – getting everyone on the same »flight level«
Psychological Safety
Create an atmosphere where people feel safe to admit mistakes and stop the »Flywheel of Error-Dynamics«