Via ANTELOPE VALLEY PRESS:
LANCASTER — At first glance, there may seem to be little in common between the gasp-inducing precision flying of the Air Force Thunderbirds aerial demonstration team and the efforts of business people and community leaders firmly on the ground in the Antelope Valley.
But retired Air Force Col. Nicole Malachowski, the first female pilot to be a member of the prestigious team, found many parallels between her experiences as a fighter pilot during her more than 21 years in the Air Force and those pursuing more terrestrial endeavors, no matter the field.
Malachowski shared her experiences and the lessons she learned with those gathered Thursday during the AV EDGE Spring Business Summit.
Growing up in Las Vegas, where the Thunderbirds have their home base at the nearby Nellis Air Force Base, Malachowski decided as a child she wanted to pursue being a fighter pilot and ultimately joining the Thunderbirds herself.
“I grew up watching fighter jets flying overhead all the time,” she said, which made her think, “I want to be one of those people.”
Becoming a fighter pilot itself is difficult — especially for a woman at the time — and becoming a member of the Thunderbirds is even harder. Even though it was her dream, Malachowski didn’t voice it for many years, thinking to herself, “Other people become Thunderbird pilots, Nicole, not you.”
In 2005, she finally decided to take the leap and apply. While people were generally supportive, she still heard repeatedly that “it’s hard to be a Thunderbird” and “you know, Nicole, you probably won’t get picked” and “you know, Nicole, there’s never been a woman Thunderbird pilot before.”
She gathered the application and brought it to the colonel in her chain of command for the required letter of recommendation. She went to his staff with her application and was told that, with only one recommendation each year, “we’re not sure we want to waste it” on her.
Defeated, she apologized for bothering them and withdrew.
However, Malachowski then ran into the wing commander, a brigadier general and “poster child of a fighter pilot,” who heard of her desire to apply and then gave her advice she has followed ever since. He told her, “Nobody wants to lead a scripted life,” she said, a sentiment which helped her to see it’s OK to go against the status quo, to risk failure in pursuit of her dreams and growth.
That is true for leaders in any field, as well, to not write others out of the script but to encourage their talents and ideas, she said.
Joining the Thunderbirds taught Malachowski the value of teamwork and valuing all members of the team and their contributions, no matter what role. As part of the initial training, Thunderbird pilots learn the roles of every single team member, from mechanics to logistics to finance, before they ever even touch the airplanes.
The process taught her that “nothing of significance is ever accomplished alone,” she said.
Learning how her teammates worked led to the realization that they take as much pride in their jobs as she did in hers, something to remember in effectively working with teams in any situation.
The Thunderbirds are well-known for flying in close formation, a process that requires the pilots to trust the others flying at high speeds only three feet away. Through that process, Malachowski learned that “you build trust by being trustworthy.” This comes from each team member, whether flying or in business or other organizations, understanding that they will all hold themselves to the accepted standards, performance and expectations.
Malachowski recalled the first time she experienced turbulence while flying in the close formation. With each bump, her grip tightened in the control stick, sending a small input to the airplane’s direction. After a series of these inadvertent movements, her jet was now bouncing through an ever-wider arc before she regained control.
After the flight, her instructor — and the pilot in the plane beneath hers in formation — told her the key to flying in turbulence is, perhaps counter-intuitively, to loosen her grip on the control stick.
The same concept applies outside the cockpit, to the bumps and uncertainty encountered though life: to stop trying to control the uncontrollable, and focus on what you can, she said.
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