Flying Life: What are you afraid of?
Contagious courage and the case for vulnerability
Brené Brown is a popular author, public speaker, and research professor at the University of Houston. She has written four number one New York Times bestsellers. Her Ted Talks have received nearly 50 million views to date. The crux of her research is this: People who live happy, wholehearted lives are those who have the courage to let their most authentic selves be seen. They are not paralyzed by a fear of failure. Rather, they have the courage to be vulnerable, both at work and in their personal lives. For most folks, however, vulnerability is something we avoid at all costs because of the fear that if we allow ourselves to be truly seen, we will experience loss of respect, loss of connection, and shame.
I have long been a fan of Brown’s work, as I’ve seen how it can be helpful in my personal life. However, recently, I read a passage in her new book, Daring Greatly, that shows her work has direct implications for aviation culture. Brown writes about interviews she conducted on how men and women experience shame in their lives. These were the subjects’ answers that, as a pilot, I found alarming: “Revealing any weakness is shaming…Showing fear is shameful…You can’t be afraid—no matter what.” If the research is true (and thousands of interviews say it is), then this is bad news for those of us who fly. If the aviation culture views weakness as shaming, then that means we will work hard to cover up our weaknesses, rather than asking for help from a flight instructor to improve our skills. If we can’t talk about the things that scare us in airplanes, because of the fear of being viewed as weak or not having the “right stuff,” then how in the world are we going to keep ourselves safe?
In 2014, an industry-wide study conducted by the General Aviation Joint Steering Committee (a work group consisting of FAA and industry leaders including AOPA) determined the number one reason for aircraft accidents is “loss of control.” Their recommendation? Angle-of-attack indicators in every airplane. While the study proves stalls are a common weak area among pilots, what it doesn’t answer is why. Brown’s work would suggest that we’re reluctant to get help becoming more proficient because we don’t want anyone to know we’re weak in that area—and also a little bit afraid of stalls and spins. But unless we get comfortable discussing it, accident statistics aren’t going to dramatically improve. No, I’m not talking about some painfully awkward, pilot kumbaya moment. I’m just advocating a little honest introspection that would hopefully lead to grabbing a flight instructor and going up periodically to practice stalls or crosswind landings or whatever we know our deficiencies to be.
That’s not to say that everyone in the industry is scared of vulnerability. There have been great articles in which people write about their own incidents and accidents in hopes of making it a learning experience for all. When I worked at the airlines, there was a system in place where you could anonymously report any incidents with the idea that if it were discovered later, you would be granted immunity as long as your actions weren’t intentional. I used the system once when I forgot to slow my CRJ-200 below 250 knots before descending through 10,000 feet. General aviation has a similar system set up through NASA, whereby you can self-report unintentional regulation violations and avoid enforcement action under certain circumstances. While these programs are certainly valuable, I wonder how much more effective those stories would be if they were shared face to face, pilot to pilot, in hangars and cockpits everywhere?
While this may sound like a pipe dream, I’d like to think we pilots have evolved from the days when Maverick and Goose were our role models. We could make our industry so much safer if we’re only willing to do two things. First of all, we have to stop playing Monday morning quarterback when we hear about the sticky situations other pilots have gotten themselves into. Yes, there is a place for objective accident analysis, but criticism merely for the sake of making ourselves feel better than the other guy or gal helps no one. The second thing we can do is share our stories, and be honest about our weaknesses and fears. Transparency will go a long way toward everyone’s goal of safer flying. In the words of Brown, “Vulnerability—the willingness to be ‘all in’ even when you know it can mean failing and hurting—is brave….Courage is contagious. Every time we choose courage, we make everyone around us a little better.”
