My older brother and I grew up playing with Dad’s silk maps and flight gear from Vietnam. We’d perform imaginary feats of daring and skill, pretending to be pilots just like our dad, a former United States Marine Corps aviator. After he left the armed forces, my dad flew for a major airline until retirement; my mom had been a flight attendant before having us kids. Given this heritage, my brother and I had no doubt, even as kids that we were destined for the cockpit, and we were both right.

I was drawn to naval aviation and the culture it held so dear: mission before self.

Yet, we can’t talk about fearless leadership, peak performance, or being an “industry leader,” without understanding that risk is necessary.

And when you’re trying something new, it will get messy. Rarely is something new or different done perfectly the first time. Nor can you give lip service to leadership development, or “growing your people,” or encouraging your team to be “on the leading edge,” if you’re simply going to shove them off a cliff at the first sign of a struggle.

For a fighter pilot, speed is life. You must make decisions quickly. You must take the initiative and push the envelope, or you will be left behind.

To help regain control of your personal and professional life, you need to have a Flight Path for Success.

Any sort of work-life balance or work-life integration requires awareness. Where are you today? Where do you want to go? (Hours of work, level of stress, time with friends and family, hobbies, etc.) What do you value? What are your priorities? How do you define success? All of this takes self-reflection before you can successfully choose the way you want to live. Write those goals down, and then focus on what matters, know your priorities, and let the rest go.

Say “no” to those things that don’t support your goals.

Be committed, unwavering, intentional, and purposeful in your actions.

Make a plan and stay focused.

Plan, prioritize, and adjust. Repeat. Some days, it feels like that circus trick of having one foot on two different galloping horses; not always easy, but doable!

There is an enormous amount of competition vying for your team’s attention. In order to remain relevant, you need to cut through the noise to gain and hold your teammates’ attention. As a leader, you must think about those things that do not contribute to the end state. If it doesn’t support your goals, get rid of it! As we say in fighter aviation, “If you lose sight, you lose the fight.” The clearer the vision, the easier it is to say “no” to those things that don’t help you achieve your goals.

The other critical factor is to always be learning, and avoid complacency. Know what matters to your customers, your clients, and your partners.

When change happens, uncertainty and ambiguity can paralyze your team. Fear sets in, caution envelops us, and instead of strapping into our fighter jet and going for it, we curl up and wait for the storm to pass, for things to settle down. But what if this change in your environment is your team’s new normal? You don’t have the luxury of waiting for things to blow over. To remain relevant, you must learn quickly by continuing the open dialogue about what is working and what isn’t. Find a way forward, or make one. Create your own future by taking action. Don’t be a passenger in your own life, and don’t let your team’s future flail in the wind. Take risks and learn from your mistakes.

One of my favorite quotes is from Neil Armstrong: "There can be no great accomplishment without risk.” I love this saying.

Managing risk is about having the courage to start, to go first, when there are no guarantees. It’s about being innovative, learning, and pushing the envelope.

This is not the same thing as taking bad risks or showing false bravado. It is simply choosing to live with the possibility of hope instead of being crushed and paralyzed by your fears. The most successful people I know have that kind of courage, that kind of bravery that makes other people scratch their heads and say, “I can’t believe you did that!”

So how can you do that?

1. Feel the fear, and do it anyway! When leaders display courage, whether in the air or in the boardroom, it’s truly contagious.

2. Fearless leadership and risk-taking requires you to embrace discomfort -- to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

3. Debrief. It is the single most powerful tool to manage risk, and reduce errors. Analyze how things went, what worked, what didn’t, and why. This dynamic process will help make the seemingly impossible, possible. It will allow you to execute your strategy effectively, adapt and adjust quickly, and manage risk effectively. And, crucially, it will help you and your people learn to value any failure as a learning opportunity, and thus, get over your fear of uncertainty and failure, increasing your fearlessness.

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To bring Carey Lohrenz to your organization to inspire your team, please contact Michael Frick at: Mike@Speaking.com.