LESSONS LEARNED
As a co-owner and editorial director of both Helicopter Maintenance and D.O.M. magazines, I
write on a lot of different subject matters. As I sat down to write this column, I thought of a theme that could be informative for our readers of Helicopter Maintenance — lessons learned. You see, I have interviewed a lot of maintenance managers over the years for cover stories in D.O.M. magazine. Although every single one of them were unique in their own way, many of them shared common traits — skills and knowledge that helped them transition from being a mechanic to becoming a successful leader and manager. If you are wanting to transition from being a mechanic to becoming a supervisor, or if you want to become a better supervisor or manager, here are a few of the observations I have made of successful aviation maintenance managers: Military Experience. Roughly two-thirds of the managers I have interviewed had a military background. I don’t consider whether or not someone has a military background when choosing who to profile them in a story — it just happened that way. When I gave a guest presentation for Brandon Battles at Conklin & de Decker’s Helicopter Maintenance Management seminar at Heli-Expo a few years ago, I asked for a show of hands — how many of the maintenance managers in the audience had military experience. Guess what, roughly two-thirds of them raised their hands. As I think about it, serving in the military provides two advantages. First of all, it provides hands-on technical experience working on aircraft and components. More importantly, the military teaches leadership. Everyone in the military is trained how to fire a weapon, but it takes leaders to motivate soldiers to charge into a hostile environment to risk life and limb. Although maintenance managers in civilian organizations aren’t facing life-and-death situations every day, strong leaders can foster a positive work culture and motivate their employees to excel. Pilot/Mechanic. Roughly half of the maintenance managers I have interviewed have both a mechanic’s and pilot’s certificate. When I asked for a show of hands at the same seminar mentioned above, almost
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HelicopterMaintenanceMagazine.com August | September 2019
half of the audience raised their hands. Why do pilot/ mechanics seem to excel? Perhaps it’s because being a pilot helps a mechanic better understand the aircraft systems and operations — especially when it comes to flight dynamics. Mechanics who are pilots can also communicate better with pilots and understand what might be happening when a discrepancy occurs during a flight. Strong Communication Skills. Being a good mechanic doesn’t always require strong communication skills, but successful managers need to hone their written and verbal communication skills. The higher up the career ladder you go, the more importation communication becomes. Humility. Humility is a trait of a good leader. Act
like you know it all and you will fail. In just about every profile story I have done, the manager was extremely humble. “My success is due to my team.” “I was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time.” “I couldn’t have done it without the support of my peers.” These are examples of humility I often hear. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice and help. Humility
doesn’t mean you are fearful or hesitant. Managers need to make decisions. Some of those decisions won’t be easy. Good managers are humble, but confident. They understand the difference between confidence and arrogance. Share Your Knowledge. Finally, successful managers share their knowledge and mentor others. Only an insecure manager would feel threatened by subordinates. If you hold knowledge from others, you will never be able to step away. If you are a manager, you should be thinking about training your replacement. Just because you might have been promoted to manager without the training and knowledge to do your job doesn’t mean you need to let it happen to the next person. Besides, you do want some time off, don’t you? Who wants to be on vacation while still glued to their smart phone because the shop can’t function without them? If you are a manager, what lessons have you learned?
If you are a mechanic, what traits do see in successful managers? We’d like to hear your feedback. Thanks for reading! – Joe Escobar
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