 February 4, 2019
Want to Avoid Helicopter Crashes and Other Disasters? Be Confrontable!
Are You Confrontable? You may not be in charge of helicopter maintenance or other life-threatening work, yet every leader needs to ponder whether they are confrontable. Do your people feel free to give you feedback on concerns they may have about what you are doing? If you are about to go over a cliff, will those you lead stop you or let you plunge? Do you know how to encourage staff to come to you with festering conflicts in order to prevent disasters and doom?
Lessons from Helicopter Crashes: I’m a big fan of the investigative reporting podcast Reveal. A recent broadcast tracked the problems that led up to a number of crashes of the Navy’s MH-53E Sea Dragon.
These helicopters, some of which had been in service since the Cold War, were notorious among mechanics and pilots for maintenance problems. Yet when the servicemen and women tried to complain to their commanding officers about these issues, they were told that they were “not seeing the big picture” or that such concerns were “above their pay grades.” Finally, a fire in the cabin of one copter in 2014 leading to several deaths convinced a team of investigatory reporters to track down the source of the problem. Their verdict: everyone knew the aircraft had issues but the Navy leaders weren’t willing to listen to those who complained. Sadly, most of the documented crashes occurred on training missions, instead of combat.
What Should You Do?
- Ask for feedback and listen: Make it a habit to ask the same questions in every one-on-one that you have with your staff. Use some version of: Is there anything I’m doing or that anyone else is doing that is interfering with your success? Is there anything that I could do or that anyone else could do that would make you more successful? The first time you ask these questions, you may not receive an answer, but if you keep asking during each meeting, eventually you will.
- Ask what you could do to be more approachable: Especially if there’s been a big issue in your group and you were the last to know, ask people individually: What could I do that would make it easier to come to me in the future? Again, when you first ask this question, you may not receive an answer but keep asking and eventually, you’ll gain some insight.
- Abandon the chain of command. Make it clear that you are open to underlings approaching you with complaints and concerns, even if you are not their direct boss. There may be legitimate reasons why they are afraid to approach their superiors first.
- Protect whistleblowers. A plethora of laws protects whistleblowers: employees who come forward to complain that laws or policies have been violated. Make sure that you don’t tolerate retaliation from anyone.
What Do You Think?
As a leader, how do you encourage people to tell you the truth? Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
 Did You Know
All of our leadership and management classes, especially those that focus on managing conflict, help participants encourage useful truth telling.
Call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or
Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
Learn more about our training offerings and check out our team members at:
www.workplacesthatwork.com
Be sure to read Lynne’s book “The Power of a Good Fight” and learn to embrace conflict to drive productivity, creativity and innovation.
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