The Fighter Pilot's Debrief: Elevating Your Year-End Strategies for Maximum Impact

As December wraps up and we edge closer to the end of the year, I want to start off this newsletter with a heartfelt THANK YOU.

Your support, engagement, and shared stories have inspired me on this incredible new journey. Each of you plays a vital role in the Upside Down Dreams community, and for that, I am eternally grateful.

In this installment of "Inverting Your Mindset," I'll teach you the power of the "Fighter Pilot's Debrief" to audit and adjust your course towards your big goals in 2024.

Read Time ~3 min: Ready? Let's Go!

During my time as a fighter pilot, debriefing or auditing each flight was part of my daily routine. Although I don't audit my business as frequently, it's still a major part of my business strategy.

The goal of auditing our progress isn’t to relive mistakes or beat ourselves up over our shortcomings. It's to understand WHY we experienced certain outcomes over others and what's required to get back on track.

This level of understanding will help us make adjustments for the next month, quarter, or year.

It's also a fantastic exercise to help us mature and grow. You'll find that the most valuable lessons come from our missteps and failures.

Similar to aviation, embracing our mistakes and taking stock of our personal and professional journeys is essential.

The Fighter Pilot's Debrief (FPD)

EVERY SINGLE Thunderbird flight, from training to the final show, ends the same way - a debrief. When the team disappears after signing autographs, their work is far from over.

In the debrief room, pilots watch replays, dissecting every aspect of their performances and owning their mistakes well before others point them out.

The team evaluates performances against clear and measurable objectives determined before each flight to determine the success or failure of each flight.

It makes no difference if it's a new team member or Thunderbird #1, “The Boss,” they talk it out, learn, and commit to doing better.

It's powerful when your team can feel comfortable openly expressing areas for improvement. It eliminates the fear, allowing the team to focus on corrective action without feeling ashamed or embarrassed.

The "5-Whys", A Powerful Diagnostic Technique

A great technique for guiding yourself toward a root cause is a questioning technique called the "5 Whys."

This iterative process pushes past initial assumptions and guides you to the root cause of an issue, translating these insights into actionable steps.

A Typical Debrief Structure

Here’s a simple breakdown of a typical debrief structure:

1. Initial Finding: This is typically a surface-level identification of an issue or outcome, such as noticing a shortfall in a specific area like sales, productivity, or quality of outputs.
2. Further Inquiry: This involves digging deeper into the initial finding to understand the underlying causes.
3. Issue Identification: Here, we move from symptoms to root causes, identifying the main reasons behind the outcomes or challenges.
4. Fundamental Realization: Identifying the root cause often leads to a significant change in approach based on a deeper understanding of the underlying problems.

A Case Study: My Personal Experience

1. Initial Finding: Last year, I noticed I wasn’t getting the number of quality leads for keynotes needed to hit my goals, not just interest, but the scope of the event and their budget. After realizing I wasn’t hitting my objective, I analyzed the situation.
2. Further Inquiry: I realized my current business trajectory wasn’t capturing the right ‘targets’—potential clients who could truly benefit from my insights and saw the value they bring.
3. Core Issue Identification: Although inspiring, my message sometimes flew over the heads of corporate clients who were looking for direct applications in their field and landed with non-profits or children-focused organizations.
4. Fundamental Realization: I thought back to my recent interactions. I had shared a story with a coaching client about the uncertainty the Thunderbirds faced during the pandemic, an airshow team with no airshows that eventually led to the team pivoting to the America Strong flyovers.

Key Takeaways:

• While I love working with non-profits and children-focused organizations, corporate clients are at the core of a successful speaking business. I needed both to be sustainable.
• Reviews such as “Your stories are inspiring, but how do they apply to my team’s daily challenges” really hit home.
• When I would draw parallels to "navigating market uncertainties" and the pivots many businesses have made in recent years, it would resonate deeply with my clients. This was an ‘aha’ moment for me.
• I needed to pivot my messaging to connect my aviation experiences to strategic lessons for business leadership and decision-making.

Applying the FPD in Your Life or Business

1. Begin with an obstacle or failed outcome.
2. Dive deeper by asking ‘why’ 5 times.
3. Identify the root cause.
4. Translate this insight into actionable (corrective) steps.

Adopting this method of deep introspection and analysis is transformative.

It encourages moving beyond the surface-level ‘what happened’ to the deeper ‘why and how’ it happened.

By embracing this process, you can align your actions with your goals more effectively and pave the way for continuous improvement and growth.

Now is the perfect time to bring an intentional debrief into your process.

As we enter the new year, I'm excited to continue this shared journey of growth and discovery with you!

Here's to a year filled with audited insights, strategic adaptations, and collective growth!

Happy Holidays, and SEE YOU IN 2024

Your Wingman,

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