Personality at Work: The Drivers and Derailers of Leadership

CHAPTER 6

Flying Lessons—Crew Leadership, Teamwork, and Communications

Every second, somewhere around the world, a plane takes off and another lands. Every second.

At any given moment, 700,000 people occupy the sky, their lives in the hands of a flight crew composed of a captain and one or two flight officers, working with air traffic control. In commercial aircraft, the captain is the undisputed leader of the flight crew. As in other work settings, his or her personality sets the tone, crew dynamics, and efficacy in the flight deck. Unlike most settings, however, in the highly compressed time and space constraints of commercial flight, the split-second decisions, actions, and interactions of this team can make the difference between life and ...