Train and anticipate emergency situations with our of the #clearedtoland success principle
Permanent multitasking is essential when flying: scanning the instruments, keeping an eye on the airspace outside, working through the checklists, doing the navigation, never losing your bearings, listening to the radio and understanding it. This makes it all the more important to anticipate developments and events during the flight.
The “What if’s…”, the mental anticipation of possible events, is a constant companion of every flight preparation and every flight.
For pilots it is essential to always be one step ahead of the aircraft and the events around it.
The motto is always: “First fly the aircraft”. With all the multitasking: the actual basic task of flying the aircraft must never be lost sight of.
Mistakes can always happen in hectic or stressful situations. There is often a chain of several errors. It is important not to allow yourself to be put under pressure, to choose your own speed if possible and to always make time for yourself, e.g. by extending the “traffic circuit”, a predefined procedure in which the approach is flown.
So it is better to take a step back and think through the decisions and next steps in peace. This is the equivalent of “going around”, for example, when flying.
During this procedure, you gain time, can re-sort yourself and coordinate the steps for landing and work through them again at your pace.
Stress creates a tunnel vision or blackout and makes clear decisions impossible. However, calm reaction in extraordinary situations can be trained. Mental or physical checklists also help to ensure that a “normal state” can be restored as quickly as possible even in a “state of emergency”.
The standard training of pilots includes numerous emergency procedures. They are practised intensively during the training of becoming a pilot. These include power-off landings (simulated engine failure), take-off exercises, the abort of your take-off in the event of technical problems, “power-off after take-off” – incidentally one of the most unfavourable situations because the engine fails at take-off at even lower altitudes and the aircraft is in the process of climbing – or even the behaviour in the event of a “stall”, i.e. stalling.
So, during the flight, pilots always have in mind that the engine might fail or that there might be some other technical problem. This sounds rather pessimistic, but can be described as “protective pessimism”. This term comes from a book we strongly recommend: “Shoot for the Moon” by Richard Wyseman, an American psychologist (R. Wyseman, 2019, p. 175).
The #clearedtoland success principle with its 8 key points is about the mindset, among other things, which makes the difference: “I am cleared to land” or simply “I can do it! A mindset that helps even under adverse circumstances, such as a worldwide pandemic – as we have all just experienced – with all the associated challenges for our professional and private lives.
A strong mindset and confidence in one’s own abilities not only helps in unforeseen situations, but also helps in running a company, leading a team, successfully completing a project or privately overcoming a difficult situation or life crisis.
What does the #clearedtoland key point 2 mean for your professional and private life?
We do not land all planes. But we face new and sometimes unexpected challenges every day, respectively in 2020 the already mentioned worldwide pandemic including lockdown with far-reaching consequences for the whole world. Every now and then such an unforeseen situation may seem like an emergency landing to us.
This is where #clearedtoland key point 2 “expect the unexpected” helps you by making sure you are prepared for an lot of unexpected things!
Anticipating unexpected events
For your professional life, #clearedtoland core point 2 means to always remember that a situation can change quite unexpectedly. Always anticipate the unexpected! You don’t have to look far, if you look at the aviation and tourism industry towards the end of the Corona crisis.
Now, of course, you don’t have to go through life constantly imagining the worst. But maybe the “protective pessimism” helps you not to take the current carefree state for granted, but to be grateful for it – and at the same time to have a plan B and C in the back of your mind just in case.
Anticipating unexpected events: Have a plan B or C…
What to do if the requirements for your job change suddenly? Do you have a plan B and C for this too? Which you can call up immediately to react quickly to new situations? For example, do you feel prepared for digital change and changing requirements in your job?
Do not let yourself be overwhelmed by changing conditions and upheavals! Prepare yourself, also for future challenges. With a plan B and C. This is how you get fit and remain capable of acting!
The principle applies equally to your private life:
Have you made provisions, also financially, for the case that the “high fly” of marriage and family formation suddenly comes to an abrupt end?
For example, do you stay in your job with at least one foot, even though this becomes a juggling act with children?
Do you remain independent and earn your own money, even if this does not always seem sensible in view of the high childcare costs? Are you driving your own career forward, even though the compatibility of family and work almost brings you to a nervous breakdown?
Even though the divorce rate in Switzerland has fallen in recent years, separation poses major financial challenges a lot of times. Often it is one partner who has reduced the workload for years because of family and children – still mostly the woman – who faces precisely these challenges.
Ultimately, it is a matter of being at least one step ahead of events – both professionally and privately – with alternative courses of action.
Cultivate this “protective pessimism”.
“Expect the unexpected”, but at the same time enjoy, when none of it comes true and you can navigate calmly through your life.
In the end, the very absence of misfortune is already a great happiness!