Heoric Leadership

April 17, 2009 by Kim.

We have had two examples of incredible, heroic leadership in the past few months. Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenburger, US Airways pilot and Capt. Richard Phillips, US Maresk-Alabama. These two gentlemen are heroes in many people’s eyes, including mine.

Let’s take Capt. Sully first. The engines on the aircraft he was piloting suddenly shut down. He had mere minutes to make split second calculations and decisions about saving the aircraft and the passengers on board. I have never had to make decisions that involved the life and safety of hundreds of people so I can’t imagine what was going through Capt. Sully’s mind when he was faced with certain disaster. But I have faced situations where quick decisions were needed in order to avert a risk, keep the project on track, or avoid a project disaster. I imagine you have faced this situation too.

I have also experienced sitting in a hot seat in a lively steering committee meeting where it seemed I was roasting alive. And I’ve had to make snap decisions with little information and no time to consult anyone. So what can Capt. Sully teach us when we’re in the hot seat or have a quick decision to make? Stay calm, control your emotions, make a decision, and act on it.

I could go on and on about the managers I’ve work for and worked with who refused to make a decision and the trouble that caused. What if Capt. Sully would have thrown up his hands and said, “Oh well, we’re going down and there’s nothing I can do about it.” Yikes. What a great example of the old saying, “no decision is a decision.”

Don’t let an imminent disaster paralyze you. You won’t always have the luxury of having all the facts or of having enough time to analyze all the angles. Make a decision based on what you know at the time and act on it!

Let’s talk about Capt. Phillips. His heroic actions got me thinking about what I’d do for my team. How far would I go? How about you? Would you put your own life in danger to save your team members? I can hear some of you laughing out there saying you must be kidding. Give up my life for Joker Jane? But good leaders go to great lengths to protect their team, even the jokers. It’s never okay in my book to berate a team member in front of others or allow anyone else to do so. As a leader, we should not only defend our team members in front of others, but we should protect them from the office politics and other negative influences as well. How many of us have instead thrown Joker Jane under the bus to save our own reputation? Capt. Phillips’ actions were exemplary.  He insisted the pirates take him and leave his crew behind. Once rescued he stated he was “…the byline.” He gave the credit to his rescuers and declared them to be the real heroes.

Be a hero in your team’s eyes. Make a decision and act on it. Take the hit for the team when the heat is on and give them all the praise when things are going well.

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