043. Dark Cockpit with Emil Dobrovolschi and Octavian Pantis

💭 Have you ever sat on a plane and admired the way an airline captain communicates to the passengers and cabin crew?  Or considered how well the team onboard that plane works together?  Well, this is no accident (pardon the pun).

At The Leadership Project we pride ourselves on bringing forward people from diverse backgrounds to challenge our thinking. Today, we consider what we can learn from an airline captain and the airline industry about communication and leadership.

We are greatly honoured to be joined by Emil Dobrovolschi, a pilot, a pilot instructor, and a pilot examiner and Octavian Pantis, an entrepreneur, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Qualians, an international training and consulting company. 

Emil and Octavian had a chance meeting several years ago that lead to a beautiful friendship.  Octavian was onboard Emil's aircraft and could not help but notice the quality and clarity of Emil's communication.  From that moment onwards he knew that he had to meet him.

Their friendship blossomed to the point where they agreed to co-author the book, Dark Cockpit, which went on to be a bestseller.

In Dark Cockpit, Emil and Octavian share with us wonderful lessons on leadership and communication from the perspective of an airline pilot. 

A Dark Cockpit is the desired state for any pilot. This is when everything is running smoothly and there are no alarms or warnings activating.  You can imagine the extrapolation into the business world or the leadership of your team.  To achieve a Dark Cockpit, a pilot must be very clear and unequivocal in their communication.  Communication AND receiving an acknowledge that the communication was received and understood.

Another interesting point is that pilots are called upon to lead a different team every day.  Imagine needing to quickly get to the performing with a newly formed team on every shift and every flight.

Pilots also have an amazing ability to remain calm in a crisis situation and know what to do in any situation.

We hope you enjoy today's episode as we explore together the lessons we can extrapolate from a Dark Cockpit.

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