Forget what you learned about traditional leadership. Leading in Turbulent Times takes a different approach to seizing opportunities, driving results, & motivating others.
I recently heard the Sturdy Pilot metaphor (Dr. Becky Kennedy from Good Inside), and it made me reflect on leadership through the lens of a pilot flying through turbulence.
A New Approach to Leadership
A Pilot Navigating Turbulence
During turbulence, a pilot is unapologetic and unphased by the approaching storm. They embrace it with calmness, clarity and most importantly sturdiness. Just as a pilot has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of their passengers, and will do whatever it takes to ensure a safe outcome, leaders hold the ultimate responsibility for the outcomes of their teams.
A Flight Attendant Leader
A flight attendant leader, in contrast, is caught in these turbulent moments in a state of role confusion, where neither they nor their followers are quite certain what is expected of them.
Why is there confusion? For most of the flight, the flight attendant can be observed getting you coffee and serving you drinks, but make no mistake about it, they are there primarily for your safety and are well-trained should anything go wrong. The flight attendant is well-skilled and highly competent in their role, but it is the inherent nature of the role that can lead to confusion and unsteadiness should strong winds arise.
I think the flight attendant role, much like middle management, is one of the most misunderstood and underappreciated positions in organizations today.
Where Traditional Leadership Falls Short
Traditional leadership has long trained us to be a servant leader, eat last, and see the organization as an inverted triangle with the leader at the bottom. I don’t disagree with any of these approaches individually, but seeing these as the sole focus of leadership has created soft leaders when we need sturdy ones.
Becoming A Sturdy Leader
Sturdy leaders are critical in our organizations right now as they can ride out each storm with confidence, compassion, clarity and conviction.
Reflect on the last time you went through turbulence and the pilot announced that the seat belt sign had been turned on. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are now going through a period of turbulence; for your safety, we have put on the seat belt sign and ask that you stay in your seats. We will be out of this shortly.” In this short message, the pilot stated clearly their expectations of the group; demonstrated concern for everyone’s safety; captured a sense of urgency to motivate quick action, and ultimately communicated in a tone that instilled confidence that we would get through this.
Workplaces today are turbulent spaces – unions are going on strike, the political and global climate is being felt more in the workplace and people are just tired. As a leader, if we are going to get through this and lead ourselves, our teams and our organizations through this storm, then we need to adopt a new approach to leadership: a pilot navigating turbulence.
