What Leaders Can Learn From The Miracle on The Hudson

I posted this in January on Facebook (reposting on the new blog)

Here's something I'm sharing with my GMs and GSMs this morning on our monthly conference call:

What Can Leaders Learn From The Miracle on the Hudson?
Allen Power

It was indisputably a miracle of God! Hence the “tag line” everyone is using. This reminds us that a loving and sovereign God can orchestrate events and give us power that is beyond anything human beings can claim credit for.

It gave us some good news and satisfied the instinctively American need for a hero.
As leaders we don’t have to be a hero, but we should strive for leadership that people can point to as positively impacting them particularly in tough times. As Fred Smith said: “Heroes don’t have to be famous, they just have to be heroes.”

It reinforced the importance of training and preparation. The old saying is “luck is where opportunity meets preparation.” Just substitute “crisis” for “opportunity” in this case. Hours of disciplined training and scenario rehearsals led to the “happy ending” we all witnessed.

It reminds us that true leaders have humility. Basically “Sully” and the crew have laid low and taken the “I was just doing my job” attitude. Refreshing. I’m paraphrasing here because they haven’t talked much, but it feels as if they are saying: “Wasn’t safely landing a plane under the worst conditions the whole point? Anyone can fly on auto-pilot!”

It reminds us of the importance of quick, decisive action. We’re talking seconds to figure out what to do and then DO it. No hand wringing here. Looking at the transcripts of the flight recorder is pretty telling. It didn’t sound like anyone was “freaking out”.

It reminds us of the critical leadership qualities of a cool head and a steady hand. That kind of focus under pressure comes from the formula of : Knowing WHAT to do + knowing YOU CAN do it + knowing WHO YOU ARE.

It reminds us that there is no substitute for battle experience and “time in the cockpit”.

It reminds us that what we might think of as “little things” (geese) can destroy our plans and endanger our journey if enough of them hit at the same time.

It reminds us that life isn’t fair or predictable and sometimes “both engines get hit” and how we respond determines whether we and the people we lead survive.

Finally, the “Miracle on the Hudson” also gave us some badly needed perspective: When those 155 people…got off the plane I can guarantee you they weren’t asking how the stock market was doing! Life is bigger than the crisis you are presently in…more importantly God is bigger than all of it and is looking for a few “Sullys” to be his hands and feet in leading people through critical and dangerous times!