I think that your insight is excellent, but I draw a tighter connection
between CRM and Leadership.
You said... "Captaincy requirement for the civilian airline industry, the
same
as is required in the fighter force for a mass attack lead, is not CRM!"
The two requirements are very dissimilar. The mission is different, the
chain of command is different, the ethic is different and the professional
background of the crew force is considerably different. I believe there is
great need for CRM skills in each case, but for DIFFERENT CRM skills.
You said... "A lot of good ideas have been proffered. Perhaps the most
valuable is that
leadership is not a skill set that can be taught like addition. One can
teach and teach the basics, the principles and the advanced but regardless
of the investment, some folks do not develop into effective leaders. We can
have effective administrators that are empowered with leadership roles.
They do a commendable job with the administration but on the personnel side
they can fail miserably."
I really agree with this one, BUT.... I think we could do a better job at
teaching leadership than we have in the past. Mentorship and internship
could add a great deal to leadership training.
You said... "We continue to teach and emphasize the basics, the
principles of what makes a good leader. My personal number one
characteristics are trustworthiness and credibility."
I have always felt that integrity was the first requirement of a good
leader... perhaps trustworthiness implies that. I had a discussion recently
with one of our "administrators." I suggested that a boss/supervisor should
always discuss integrity, along with his/her expectations, with any new
employee/subordinate. My friend thought that ridiculous... "after all,
everyone should know that they are expected to be honest." In twenty plus
years in the military, and another couple in the real world, I never had a
boss brief me on integrity.
I also agree with the credibility part. I learned that fighter pilots
always wanted their commander to first be a "good stick"! I have since
learned that first officers expect the same from their captains.
You said... "What are we looking for in CRM? I would suggest it is an
effective decision
making strategy for an individual, the capability to identify the high level
goal, i.e. what is important right now." I would suggest that you have
defined a good chunk of leadership here.
Dr. John Lauber was one our vice presidents when I first came to Delta. He
used to emphasize that CRM was a tool to enhance the authority of the
captain... NOT to diminish it. Whether you are a four ship flight lead or
an airline captain, there are times when your orders must be followed,
without question, immediately. There are also times when there is a need
for input from all. A good captain/flight lead/commander should be able to
communicate that to his/her people. If all works well, the resulting
crew/team should know when the need for autocracy arises.
Bottom lines:
1. Good CRM skills are essential for a good leader.
2. They are NOT essential to be a commander.
3. Good CRM is NOT enough to be a good leader.
Someone once told me that being a good leader is having the ability to tell
someone to go to hell... and having them look forward to the trip.
Sorry to ramble.
Jeff
Jeffrey Hill
Delta Air Lines
Advanced Qualification Programs
Dept 024, P.O. Box 20706
Atlanta, GA 30320-6001
Ph: (404) 715-7426
Fax: (404) 773-1179