Tour Pilot to Tour Owner
What also frightened — and frustrated — Schlaefli was that the required minimum flight hours for his Gulf goal kept rising faster than his accumulated hours. So, to stack the odds and hours in his favor, he started tour flying for Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters in Las Vegas. He says, “Rotor Pro’s HeliSuccess career event played a part in my introduction to Papillon, and I’ve regularly participated as a tour representative at HeliSuccess to give back.” (He also gives back to the industry as a Helicopter Association International board member.) Schlaefli rose to the rank of chief pilot of southern Nevada for Papillion, then left to take a chief pilot position for another Grand Canyon tour operator, Sundance Helicopters, which didn’t survive the COVID economy, but Schlaefli ended his time there as director of operations and quickly took a chief pilot position with utility operator Redding Air Service. “I was working there with very talented pilots who had a level of skill beyond what I even imagined amassing, and fully intended to end my flying career with them.”
Then, a year later fate intervened. “The owner of four helicopter tour operators approached me, asking if I knew anyone who might be interested in purchasing the companies. I was, and here we are!”
Leadership
It’s been not only a big career change, but becoming a multi-business owner has also changed how Schlaefli leads. He explains, “My style has certainly changed over time. When I first undertook leadership roles, I honestly had no idea what I was doing; I learned on the fly. In the helicopter industry, you work with a lot of Type A strong personalities and I started with a command-and-control leadership style. I’ve since become more of a service-minded leader, as I really like to work alongside my team and empower them to succeed. I try to serve the team and equip them to get them where they want to go. By doing that, I think I’ll get to where I want to go.”
Working alongside his team is not just lip service, but sometimes (toilet) lid service. “After the daily morning team briefings, you can find me doing whatever’s necessary to keep the operation going, whether that be flight training, flying tours myself, working on business development or even cleaning the bathroom.” Now that’s service!
Emotional intelligence
Schlaefli is modeling the service mindset he wants his companies’ teams to have. When he hires, he first looks for team members who have “emotional intelligence.” He says, “Today, that term is overused, but I’m sticking with it because what I really look for in my team are emotionally intelligent folks who have a service mindset, and who are not afraid to participate in all facets of the business. I find that by hiring such people, we’re able to build some pretty phenomenal teams.” How’s it working? “This past season’s team was fantastic,” he answers. “They were enthusiastic and very positive. I never had to sit somebody down and talk to them about things they weren’t doing, and when someone started to slack off, the other members got on them and brought them up to speed. That’s because they all were emotionally intelligent. They could make decisions without getting excited and emotional. That ability translates directly into good decision making, predictability, and the eventual result of all that is a much safer operation.”
If you’re interested in this team approach,
Schlaefli suggests two books: No Ego by Cy Wakeman and The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One that Isn’t by Robert Sutton. Schlaefli says, “Both provide excellent information on business leadership and team building. I discovered over time the hiring choices I make can make or break my particular work experience and company culture.” In addition to these two books, he also passes on two pieces of advice he received in his career that stand out. The first: “Listen to your team.” The second, he received with his first experience in Part 119 operations: “Take notes and document everything — and then take notes on your notes.”
Lurker
Schlaefli receives guidance whenever and wherever he finds it. “I approach mentorship a little different than most people; I’m more of a lurker who watches and listens to people who can teach me something. I have discovered that even the newest team members often have some great things to teach. I’ve had many mentors and most of them don’t know it. I watched — and listened — to a lot of people and still do to this day. Randy Rowles [our Rotor Pro columnist] is probably my biggest mentor — and he doesn’t even know it. [He will now!] I don’t ask him specific questions about what I should do in specific situations, but I listen intently to what he has to say. Lyn Burks is another similar mentor.” [and another familiar name to Rotor Pro readers]. The owner of Civic Helicopters, Chin Tu, also had a significant impact in his approach to business and flying.
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