Aug 26, 2019
One of my resolutions this year was to constantly
carry around with me a digital recorder so that, when the
opportunity arose, I could capture interviews with fascinating
people.
During a recent weekend break in England’s verdant
South East I was motivated to sit down in the dining room of a
gorgeous farmhouse after a sumptuous artisan breakfast and chat to
a good friend who has no connection at all to the world of
dentistry - but from whom we can all learn.
Dave Rogers retired 6 years ago after a 36-year
career in the air, originally as a bush pilot in the frozen North
but most of those years with Air Canada, becoming one of their
longest-serving and most senior long-haul officers.
We met nearly 10 years ago, when we took a catamaran
out into the Caribbean and spent a memorable 10 days exploring the
British Virgin Islands - a trip that we have repeated twice since.
Dave and Pam have become good friends.
In this impromptu interview, I ask Dave some
searching questions about the role of Captain of a huge engineering
miracle, the Boeing 777, making it’s way across the Pacific with
300+ people, whose safety was his primary responsibility.
We explore the subject of leadership as it applies to
fellow flight officers as well as the flight attendants, who he may
only meet at the beginning and end of the flight, but whose loyalty
has to be earned.
Dave talks eloquently about how to earn the respect
of one’s team and also shares a few hair-raising tales about how to
deal with emergencies.
The metaphors for those of us in business are obvious
and it is a refreshing change to hear some sage advice from a wise
man with no agenda.