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Developing Leadership Attitudes To Take Control Of A Situation: Lessons From Aeronautical Training

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For almost a quarter of a century, the FAA Aeronautical Decision Making (ADM) process has served as a backbone of safety and security training, as an important step in operations, as well as in accidents and incidents avoidance. When stakes are high, a leader would want to make sure that all available resources at disposal are used well: technological and human.

And while those handy checklists seemed obvious to me when I was not under the pressure of time and action, the experience of others showed that those who received proper decision-making training had a much lower rate of errors. FAA even points out that traditionally, good decision-making was considered to be a “by-product of experience.” But it also works the other way: advance training helps decrease error rates.

Another important area that I would like to share is related to risks and hazards and our own attitudes to those. To counteract real or perceived hazards (situations or occurrences), the FAA recommends taking the following steps. Those steps can be applied in our professional lives in multiple helpful ways:

  • Identify hazards
  • Asses risks
  • Analyze controls
  • Make control decisions
  • Use controls
  • Monitor results

While specific applications will depend on a situation, safety and good leadership and judgment should not be left just to external circumstances. There are profound human attitudes that can become risk factors. They are applicable regardless of education, experiences and seniority level, and can be effectively overcome. Here are well-established practices that can help develop better judgement and aid situational awareness:

  • Anti-authority - Follow the rules. They are usually right.
  • Impulsivity - Not so fast. Think first.
  • Invulnerability - It could happen to me.
  • Macho - Taking chances is foolish.
  • Resignation - I’m not helpless. I can make a difference.

By recognizing those attitudes and re-focusing the attention, we are better positioned to make good decisions as leaders.