More on Sully

The more we learn about Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III, the more impressive his feat becomes. Yes, the pilot of US Airways flight 1549 is now the toast of the TV news circuit. He was introduced in Tampa, Florida last weekend before the kickoff of the Superbowl. He is getting his 15 minutes, for sure.

But you know what? This guy is the real thing. The more I read about his courageous and professional performance in landing his plane on the Hudson River and saving all 155 people aboard the flight, the more impressed I am with his leadership.

Watch this video (courtesy of CBS News -- sorry about the commercial at the beginning) and think about communication during a time of crisis.



Here are three key communication take-aways that I saw from Sully's situation on-board that flight:

-- Report immediately. Don't overanalyze. State what you know, let people trust that you will get back to them as soon as you have developed the situation. Keep communications short and simple. (Note to all of us: Please accept this initial report from subordinates. Give them enough time to sort out the situation before pressing them for more information!)

-- Include others in your decision making. Sully did not try to figure everything out himself. No doubt he was constantly reviewing options with his crew. In the video clip, it is clear that he explored at least four different options for landing with the air traffic control crew. Involving others in decision making, talking out various options, gives us the best chance of finding an appropriate solution. Leaders who take on all the burdens of decision making during times of crisis run the risk of missing alternatives that others might provide.

-- In times of crisis, focus less on what happened and more on what you are going to do about it. There will always be time to analyze the causes of crisis situations. That time is not when you are working on landing a plane in the Hudson River! Sully mentioned only once that he had lost his engines during takeoff due to a bird strike. No one pressed him for more information on how or why. Instead, the conversation focused on how to get the crisis under control.

In these challenging times, many of us are experiencing crisis situations. Businesses are failing. Federal, state and city budgets are a mess. We have no shortage of challenges. Let's apply some of "Sully's" communication principles and find a way to "land the plane." How we communicate, internally and externally, may be the key enabler of success. That makes it Leader Business.

K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple...Soldier)

Is it just me...or does it seem that we make things way too complicated? We communicate through powerpoint - slide after slide of data and details. We become overwhelmed with history and excuses and schedule modifications...and miss the mark on mission accomplishment. We make things so complex that we talk past each other. We get so bogged down in the how we will accomplish our mission that we blur the what...and, perhaps more importantly, the why?

Yesterday my team briefed me on a very complicated project that we have been working for probably 8 years. They had a dozen boxes of data, multiple spread sheets, metrics and milestones, maps, computers, briefings, etc. We have been getting beat up by our higher headquarters for milestones that neither they nor us understood, and for which the customer could care less. Years of history, lessons learned, and project / schedule modifications. There was no shortage of information, the sum of which was probably understood by the project delivery team (all way smarter than me on the details), but which may have been "muddying the waters" on what we were really asked to do.

So we simplified: What was the mission and why was this important? Where are we now, what is our deadline, are we on track to meet it and, if not, what are our priority tasks to do so? Are we on budget and, if not, what are our options? Does the customer agree with where we are and where we are going? Do we have enough resources, in the right places, to accomplish the mission? Peeling back the onion...we reached consensus on these issues pretty quickly.

Simplification really takes hold when we consider communication (how do I share this information with internal and external customers?) and accountability (how do I ensure we stay on glidepath and what are the expectations for each other that will enable successful project delivery?). This project lent itself to a 1-page status sheet: a map of the project, shading for completed elements of the project, milestones along the side. Done. Shared with our customer we all had something that would give us a common operational picture and mutual accountability.

I'm a simple soldier. I like to think that by focusing on the what and the why...that my empowered team can determine the how. I align the resources and make decisions between competing demands...and get out of the way. But if I don't get it...if I can't see it...I doubt our customers can either. Dozens of boxes of data ----- 1 slide. K.I.S.S.

Tell me what you think. Or, better yet...leave me your K.I.S.S. success story! That's Leader Business! Hooah!