The Kaizen Life | Never Stop Improving
What lessons of Trust can we learn from pilots and aerobatic flying teams? How do these “team of teams” communicate, collaborate, and rely on their machines and most importantly, on their fellow pilots in circumstances that involve life and death? How can their lessons be applied in corporate organizations?
December 11, 1953. It was around 11.30 a.m. My father and his colleagues were on a lunch break in the Butler Hangar, which doubled up as office space and hangar for the B-24 Liberator! It must’ve been a beautiful, winter’s day in Bangalore.
Leaders can let you fail and yet not let you be a failure.
It was almost as if the universe had conspired in my favor and assuaged my fear of not speaking German by saying: “It’s okay, sweetheart. Here, have some music, instead. It will warm the cockles of your soul.”
Of the 32, exchange students from all over the world, I was 1 of only 4 people that hadn’t made it to the top. Upon reaching base, I was determined to change the situation. I wasn’t about to return home, empty-handed. Sure I was embarrassed but I simply had to choose what I now know as success beyond success. I had to stay true to how I played the game. So what if I couldn’t climb the rock? I could walk around it. Right? And that’s exactly what I did. All 9.4 kilometers of it. In sweltering heat. And in steadfast, resolute faith.
I was a teenager. I’d never traveled outside my country before. And certainly never been on a plane. And I’d just been chosen to travel as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. To Australia. To the land of Sir Donald Bradman, Allan, Border, and the legendary Richie Benaud.
For most of us, the work we do, doesn’t always involve life and death scenarios. It does, however, deeply involve the momentum, sustenance, and growth of businesses and teams. And we’re all equally responsible to lead, trust, communicate, and make decisions during flight. We Are the Crew.
This blog discusses the Power of Teams and what it takes to sustain and unleash that power.
This is a story of my love for aviation photography and why I choose to do this, year after year.