Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golachieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Speaker 1: fella Aledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode six oh three. I want to start today
Speaker 2: with a story from the cockpit. Back in the nineties,
Speaker 2: when I first started flight school, it looked like the
Speaker 2: perfect flying day. It was the middle of summer July, heat,
Speaker 2: blue sky, no clouds, no wind. If you asked most people,
Speaker 2: they would say that is exactly when you want to
Speaker 2: fly a small airplane. It was calm, clear and predictable.
Speaker 2: I remember pulling up to the airport thinking the same thing,
Speaker 2: and then my flight instructor looked at the weather and
Speaker 2: said something that caught me off today, density altitude is
Speaker 2: going to matter. At the time, that phrase meant nothing
Speaker 2: to me. The sky looked great, the airplane was fine,
Speaker 2: the runway had not changed, and yet my instructor was
Speaker 2: already adjusting expectations before we even touch the aircraft. Here
Speaker 2: is what density altitude means in plane language. An airplane
Speaker 2: does not care about how good the day looks. It
Speaker 2: only cares about the air it has to work with.
Speaker 2: Hot air is thinner than cold air. Thin air gives
Speaker 2: wings less lift and engines less power. Even though the
Speaker 2: airport elevation might be twelve hundred feet on paper, Hot
Speaker 2: temperatures can make the airplane feel like it is operating
Speaker 2: much higher than that same runway, same airplane, same pilot,
Speaker 2: very different performance. The takeoff roll becomes longer, the climb
Speaker 2: rate drops, the controls feel sluggish. The air planes still flies,
Speaker 2: but it does not fly the way you expect unless
Speaker 2: you account for those conditions. And that day taught me
Speaker 2: an early leadership lesson I did not fully understand until
Speaker 2: much later. Performance does not exist in a vacuum. Leadership
Speaker 2: does not either. Many leaders judge themselves in their teams
Speaker 2: as if every day should produce the same results under
Speaker 2: the same effort. They forget that outside forces change the
Speaker 2: environment we operate in. In leadership, density altitude shows up
Speaker 2: in ways that are less visible but equally real. Think
Speaker 2: about winter, short days, cold mornings, dark skies. You wake
Speaker 2: up and everything feels heavier. Motivation drops, decision making slows,
Speaker 2: energy feels limited before the day even starts. That is
Speaker 2: density altitude. Think about walking into work and immediately encountering
Speaker 2: someone who unloads their personal chaos onto you before you've
Speaker 2: even put your bag down. Family issues, conflict, stress, drama.
Speaker 2: That is density altitude. Think about external pressures from above,
Speaker 2: budget cuts, staffing shortages, political noise, unrealistic expectations. None of
Speaker 2: those things are written in your job description, yet they
Speaker 2: change how you perform. That is density altitude. The mistake
Speaker 2: leaders make is pretending these forces do not exist. In aviation,
Speaker 2: ignoring density altitude is dangerous. Pilots who assume the airplane
Speaker 2: will perform like it did last month or last week
Speaker 2: put themselves at risk. They run out of runway, they
Speaker 2: struggle to climb, they get behind the aircraft. In leadership,
Speaker 2: ignoring outside forces creates the same problem. You start the
Speaker 2: day assuming you will perform at full power, full clarity,
Speaker 2: full speed, even when the conditions say otherwise. When things
Speaker 2: feel harder, you blame yourself for your people, instead of
Speaker 2: adjusting to reality. Good pilots brief the conditions before flight.
Speaker 2: Good leaders do the same before the day begins. This
Speaker 2: does not mean making excuses. Pilots do not cancel responsibility
Speaker 2: because of density altitude. They adapt, They calculate for longer
Speaker 2: takeoff distances. They reduce the weight, they adjust expectations. They
Speaker 2: fly the airplane that exists today, not the one they
Speaker 2: wish they had. Leaders need the same discipline. Some days
Speaker 2: require longer runways, more time, fewer tasks, better pacing. Some
Speaker 2: days require acknowledging that energy will be lower and clarity
Speaker 2: may take more effort. Some days require protecting your mental
Speaker 2: airspace from people who are flowed chaos onto you without permission.
Speaker 2: High performing leaders are not immune to outside forces. They
Speaker 2: are aware of them. They ask themselves questions like what
Speaker 2: conditions am I operating in today? What external factors are
Speaker 2: affecting my energy and focus? What adjustments do I need
Speaker 2: to make so I do not overestimate my performance. This
Speaker 2: awareness is not weakness, it's professionalism. One of the most
Speaker 2: dangerous leadership habits is pretending every day should feel the same.
Speaker 2: That belief leads to burnout, frustration, and poor decisions. Pilots
Speaker 2: who fly that way do not last long. Another important
Speaker 2: point from aviation density altitude affects everyone, including experienced pilots.
Speaker 2: Hours do not make air thicker. Confidence does not change physics.
Speaker 2: The laws apply. Whether you acknowledge them or not, and
Speaker 2: leadership works the same way. Experience does not eliminate outside pressure.
Speaker 2: Titles do not remove stress. Reputation does not cancel human limits.
Speaker 2: What experience gives you is awareness. You learn to feel
Speaker 2: when the airplane is heavy. You learn when the climb
Speaker 2: will be slow. You learn when to stop pushing and
Speaker 2: start adjusting. Strong leaders do not demand peak performance in
Speaker 2: poor conditions. They manage conditions so performance stays safe, steady,
Speaker 2: and sustainable. And here's the final lesson with this, Pilots
Speaker 2: do not beat themselves up because density altitude exists. They
Speaker 2: respect it, They plan for it, they brief it. Leaders
Speaker 2: should do the same. Some days you will feel sharp,
Speaker 2: fast and clear. Some days you will feel sluggish, distracted,
Speaker 2: or overloaded. Both days count, Both days require leadership. The
Speaker 2: goal is not perfect performance. The goal is adjusted performance.
Speaker 2: When you recognize the conditions, you stop blaming your stout
Speaker 2: self and start leading smarter. So tomorrow morning, before you
Speaker 2: rush into your day, take a quiet moment and ask yourself,
Speaker 2: what is my density altitude today? What conditions am I
Speaker 2: flying in? And then lead accordingly. That small pause might
Speaker 2: just be the difference between running out of runway and
Speaker 2: lifting off safely. This has been this seven minute leadership podcast,
Speaker 2: and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com