Leadership & Flight Instruction

If you ever want to be an effective flight instructor, and make a positive impact with those you are instructing, you need to become an effective leader. Our thoughts of leaders aren’t often categorized with flight instructors because too many pilots think that becoming a flight instructor is just a way to build flight time, that it’s a stepping stone or a necessary evil they must endure until they can move onto bigger and better things. It’s those people who fail as instructors and inadvertently cause a ripple effect that damages the hopes and dreams of others who are just getting into the aviation scene.Think of this…. if you really want to impress the panel at an airline interview, tell them you became a flight instructor because you cared and because you wanted to make a difference in someone’s flying career. The moment you start thinking like this, is the moment you’ve started thinking like a leader, and then nothing can hold you back.

People aren’t born leaders, you cant just read a book and poof your now a leader. Becoming a leader takes time and it’s something you have to work on continually, on a consistent basis. There are no magic steps that I can teach you, I can only provide you with areas to work on and the rest is up to you.

Your heart: You have to care more about your student’s future than your own. If your heart is in the right place, it will show and people are more willing to follow those who show they are unselfish and care more about their life and goals then their own.

Confidence follows humility: Confidence comes with being comfortable, knowing your surroundings and resources that are available to you. Being confident does not mean to be arrogant or cocky, but confident with your abilities and decision making skills.

It’s all about Respect: If your student cant trust you, then you not have their respect. It’s all about trust & honesty! Without their respect your doomed as a leader. Be up front and honest whenever you can (the truth hurts, but people can live with the truth).

Plotting the Course & Navigating Change: You have to have a plan of action (lesson plans, setting goals) but you need to be able to adapt and change depending on your students needs and abilities. Those without a plan are left spinning their wheels and will seem unprepared and inconsistent to their students.

Developing those around you: Your job as a flight instructor is not just to get them past their check rides but to develop them into effective pilots and leaders. A brand new student pilot is like a ball of clay, just like an infant child, looking to you, and watching your every move. This is your chance to mold that student and develop them into an effective leader, so in time when they have students of their own, you’ll know their capable and competent to properly train others.

Take these items and create a checklist of your own, that you will read everyday and work on until you develop into a leader that is making an impact in people’s live on a daily basis.