Author: Anil Khosla

Leadership Lessons From A Fighter Pilot

Friday, 16-10-2020, 05:00 pm IST (Duration 1 hour)

SPEAKER: Air Marshal Anil Khosla (Retd), PVSM, AVSM, VM

Former Vice Chief of Indian Air Force

The event went off very well.

Covered talk under three parts as follows:

Fighter Pilot Traits

“Fighter pilot is an attitude. It is cockiness. It is aggressiveness. It is self-confidence. It is a streak of rebelliousness, and it is competitiveness. But there’s something else – there’s a spark. There’s a desire to be good. To do well; in the eyes of your peers, and in your own mind.”

– Robin Olds, Fighter Pilot

• • It is not all glamour.
• • It involves lot of hard work – to become one and to continue performing as one.
• • It involves lot of Studies.
• • It is not as risky as it seems – safer than Indian roads.
• • It requires high level of physical and mental fitness.
• • Self discipline is an essential trait.
• • Qualities required are:-

• • • Physical and moral courage.- 
    • Integrity & Loyalty
    • Reliability & Dependability
    • Passion
    • Dedication

Leadership Aspects

Everyone who has someone looking up to him or her is a leader. Some practical leadership aspects highlighted were as follows:

• • Lead by example, Follow adage : “Do as I Do rather than Do as I say”.
•  
  • Leader has to be honest, fair and transparent in his/her dealings.
•  
  • Change in style of leadership required in this information age. From TELL type to SELL type.
•  
  • As a leader delegation of tasks to subordinates is important. Task is delegated not the responsibility. Post delegation give space to work, rather than constantly overlooking their shoulders. Upward delegation should be avoided.
•  
  • Inculcate feeling of ownership amongst colleagues and subordinates for better involvement.
•  
  • Open communication lines are essential. They should not be linear and long.

Good Working Environment and Culture

Following aspects were stressed:

• • Team work and team building is important.
•  
  • Encourage initiative and involvement and habit of going beyond routine.
•  
  • Adopt proactive approach for planning and execution.
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  • Efficient feed back and monitoring system is a must.
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  • Encourage research, brainstorming, out of box thinking and innovative approach.
•  
  • Encourage healthy discussions. Difference of opinion should not be construed as dissent.
•  
  • Training, grooming and mentoring are  important for the organization.
•  
  • Promote safety culture.

Interactive Session

Interactive session was quite long  (extending almost to one hour). Questions and discussions were about following:

• • How to balance between delegation and ownership.
•  
  • China situation and solutions.
•  
  • Balakot strike experience.
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  • Decision making process.
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  • Quality of manpower and shortages.
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  • Compulsory military service.
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  • Procurement procedure and corruption.

• • Sharing of experiences related to 
    • Scary experiences.
    • Difficult decisions.
    • Most exhilarating events.
•  
  • Women in Defense services (Air Force)

Video Recording  Due to technical glitch entire session could not be recorded. Some portion of the Q& A session has been recorded. Please check out at:

Q&A Video

Shark in the tank theory of management was covered.

(will write about it in future under management series).