Mentoring the Next Generation of Aviation Leaders
As aviation professionals, we are all aware of the potential disruptions and performance issues during the upcoming summer season.
In 2019, the industry experienced a record-breaking year in basically all known metrics. In 2020 Covid-19 had a devastating impact, resulting in the grounding of the global fleet, massive layoffs, furloughs, and retirements of experienced staff across all areas.
2021 and 2022 saw a surprising rebound in demand for travel, as the industry tried to reset itself to pre-pandemic levels, particularly in terms of staffing and training. Other factors such as weather events, IT systems disruptions, and supply-chain delays have further stressed the industry's resilience.
As we approach Summer 2023, the likelihood of a repeat is high: peak travel demand, understaffing and minimum training in critical touch-points, ambitious scheduling, industrial actions; resulting in delays, cancellations, and perhaps another "meltdown" in one or more major operators.
As a movie buff, it feels like a cross between "Titanic" and "Groundhog Day" - it may already be too late to steer the ship, but it keeps happening again and again.
There has been a lot of discussion on why this is happening and what can be done to prevent it, with many pointing to issues related to “hard” policies, processes, and procedures. For me, an area that is often overlooked is the lack of proper leadership development specifically in entry-level to middle-management roles.
In a highly regulated, technical, and safety-oriented industry like aviation, a significant portion of learning and development focuses on those processes, procedures, and policies, far more than in the PEOPLE involved. Yet the essence of aviation lies in the millions of front-line service people who connect billions of other people on once-in-a-lifetime travel experiences.
In order for them to perform and thrive as expected, leaders need to create engaging, exciting, and enjoyable working environments (as much as productive, efficient, and profitable businesses).
IATA, ICAO and ACI have been formidable stewards of the industry's learning and development ecosystem, offering hundreds of training courses and programs aimed at improving the skills and competencies of the global workforce. As someone who has been associated with this process and delivered many courses around the world, I can vouch for the importance as well as the richness of the experience.
In my opinion, however, one missing piece in this critical function is the need to create more opportunities for the development of current and future leaders beyond their technical competence, focusing on areas such as core leadership values, behaviors, and skills.
I propose that IATA, ICAO and ACI jointly sponsor and deploy a Global Mentor Network, drawing from thousands of highly experienced and knowledgeable industry members, including current and former executives, trainers, coaches, and more, and connect them with millions of entry-level and middle-management staff around the world. Technology, as well as the willingness and interest to do this in a practical and efficient manner has been available for several years now.
One-on-one as well as group mentoring and coaching are valuable, productive, and practical processes to address the gaps and opportunities of the new generation of leaders, including but not limited to:
Personalized guidance, support, assessments, and follow-up on the core critical values, behaviors, and skills required for effective leadership.
A balanced complement to the individuals and teams “hard skills”, as demanded in today’s workplace (people focused and oriented, transparent, emotionally-intelligent, diverse, multi-cultural and multi-generational).
Continuous feedback and reflection, allowing for reframing of perspectives, redesigning approaches, and taking action back in the workplace.
Enhanced alignment of individual skills and competencies being developed, with the organization's purpose, vision, goals, and priorities.
Increased levels of motivation, confidence, inspiration, and energy to share with other individuals, teams, and stakeholders
Clear and practical opportunities to identify talent for immediate and long-term promotions and succession planning.
As we navigate further into the 21st Century, we need to think and act differently while retaining the value of the experience and knowledge that has brought us here.
The new generation of leaders will surely appreciate and treasure this connection. Shall we begin?