What is one question you think every business leader should be asking themselves right now?
The flight may be delayed, your thinking shouldn’t be. There is something about being at 35,000 feet that makes people suddenly think deeper.
Perhaps it is the clouds, the silence, or maybe the fact that for a stretch of time, there is nowhere to rush to.
On the ground, we are constantly moving, meetings, deadlines, WhatsApp messages, instagram notifications and all. But somewhere between take off and cruising altitude, life feels different.
You begin to think, and perhaps that is one thing we don’t do enough of in business, stop moving long enough to think. We celebrate activities, back-to-back meetings and people who leave the office at 9:00 p.m. are sometimes treated like national heroes. But being busy is not necessarily the same as being productive.
An aircraft doesn’t climb simply because the pilot keeps pulling levers. There is a plan, a destination, a route, and importantly, constant assessment of the conditions along the way. Business is not very different.
Sometimes the smartest decision an organization can make is to pause and ask, “Are we heading in the right direction? Are our customers still experiencing what we promised them? Are our staff still connected to the vision? Are we solving the right problem, or have we become extremely efficient at solving the wrong ones?” And perhaps the most uncomfortable question, “If we started this business today knowing what we know now, would we do anything differently?”
That is not failure, it is maturity. The aviation industry understands something many businesses sometimes forget, conditions can change after takeoff. Weather changes, routes change, plans are adjusted. A good crew does not panic because the original plan needs to be modified. They assess, communicate, and move forward safely. That is leadership too. You don’t have to have every answer, but you should be willing to ask better questions.
So this Friday, perhaps, don’t just ask yourself, “What do I need to get done?” Ask, “What do I need to understand?”
Because sometimes the biggest breakthrough isn’t found in working harder, but somewhere between the noise, the deadline, and that Nigerian corporate phrase, “Let’s circle back,” when you finally give yourself permission to think.
