Writing about Flying and Learning

Empowered!   Describe a time when you have been empowered to accomplish something.   Reflect on how others supported you and how the endeavor was accomplished.   How can you apply those lessons to your own followers? The best example I can provide is when I was tasked to acquire new flight planning software for our airline.   Our operation was struggling financially, but there was reason for optimism due to a new aircraft we were acquiring which stretched our operations into Europe.   This required an upgrade to a new software program that had the capability for international flight planning.   The Chief Pilot and Director of Safety had confidence in me to conduct the research and propose the most capable software for purchase.   The task itself was fairly straight forward, as the requirements were fairly obvious.   What I appreciated from both gentlemen was their counsel on presenting this information to the company owner.  ...

Conflict Resolution First, view the video below. Then use your blog to describe an example of a successful conflict resolution that you have either witnessed or participated in.  ·         What was the conflict? ·         What role did you play? ·         Who were the other participants in the negotiation? ·         Knowing what you know now, how might you have changed your actions or improved the solution? The best example of conflict resolution that I was a participant of was a work-related process issue between two different departments.   The issue revolved around a longstanding stalemate about instructions in a process manual between the flight training group and the fight standards group.   The instructions directed how flight instructors were to receive specialty training and how the records would reflect ...

Motivation...   Dan Ariely outlined what motivates us to work is a sense of purpose. Reflect on what motivates you at work and what gives you a sense of purpose. Why do you do what you do? What do you hope to achieve through your work? In considering how you are motivated, how can you discover not only your own personal fulfillment but that of your followers? Based upon my feelings of the TED video in Discussion 5.2, which was less than enthusiastic, I must say that this was one of the more though provoking presentations I’ve seen.   Mr. Ariely, through various experiments of Lego construction and deconstruction, was able to show the connection people have to their work and their perceived value of that work relative to an objective observer or Lego connoisseur.   Although seemingly common sense, Mr. Ariely relates how this fact can be lost on senior managers or executives when making program decisions that can impact employee motivation and interest (Ar...

Read the following excerpt from an e-mail sent by a CEO to 400 company managers at a high-technology company called Cerner. Reflect on the eight attributes of supportive communication and detail how you might apply those over the next 30 days in your job to avoid some of the problems associated with this communication.  “We are getting less than 40 hours of work from a large number of our K.C.-based EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8:00 A.M.; likewise at 5 P.M. As managers – you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing, or you do not CARE. You have created expectations on the work effort that allowed this to happen inside Cerner, creating a very unhealthy environment. In either case, you have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you. NEVER in my career have I allowed a team that worked for me to think they had a 40-hour job. I have allowed YOU to create a culture that is permitting this. NO LONGER.”   This topic is especially rel...