Flight Training - August 2013 - 57

KINDNESS BUT NOT WEAKNESS
A lesson for young instructors
» By Rod Machado

I BEGAN FLIGHT instructing at a relatively young age. My instructor’s ticket
came with free advice from my dad,
who said, “Don’t let anyone mistake
kindness for weakness.”
My father was essentially saying that
because of my youthful disposition,
students might innocently attempt
to influence me in a way that was not
conducive to flight safety. As it turned
out, more than a few tried. It wasn’t
that they were power hungry, malevolent, or born dominators (well, perhaps
a few were). They tried because it’s
human nature for everyone to try to
influence the environment to fit their
needs. Your job as a flight instructor is
to prevent anyone from taking advantage of your good nature—if you have
one—and I’ll assume you do.
One of my early students, Thomas
(not his real name), was an assertive
trial attorney working on his private
pilot certificate. When he was ready
for his first solo cross-country flight,
he decided he wanted to fly to Las
Vegas. From the Orange County area,
that’s a 200-mile trip over mostly
barren desert, home to cacti, bleached
bones, and very few airports. I suggested that this wasn’t a good idea,
especially if he had grown used to
drinking water. But I was young and
he wasn’t taking “no” for an answer.
Gulp!
In his gentle but subtle way, Thomas
kept pushing me to let him make
the Las Vegas trip. Because I wasn’t
pushing back, he pushed harder. He
was clearly mistaking my kindness
(perceived as passivity) for weakness. These are difficult situations
for instructors, especially younger
ones, because they interpret saying
no to a student as being unreasonable, unfriendly, or worse (age tends
to disabuse you of this notion). Worse

or not, there was no way Thomas was
getting a sign-off from me for this trip.
That’s when I used the idea of rules
and standards to make my position
clear to him.
As I recall, I said, “Thomas, I’m not
letting you fly to Las Vegas because
I have rules and standards for all my
students. Flying to Las Vegas doesn’t
meet the standard of safety that I
require, so let’s have a look at that

type to take advantage of your youthful
personality, it’s helpful to state your
general rules and standards up front,
before flight training begins. State
them, then immediately ask your prospective student if there’s any reason
he or she might not be able to comply.
When someone agrees to rules and
standards beforehand, it’s much
more difficult for them to argue
against compliance later.

YOUR JOB AS A FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR IS TO PREVENT ANYONE
FROM TAKING ADVANTAGE OF YOUR GOOD NATURE—IF YOU
HAVE ONE—AND I'LL ASSUME YOU DO.
travel brochure for lovely Bakersfield,
California.”
I didn’t have to make up that
language about rules and standards,
either. It’s the same language my dad
used on me as a kid. “Son, we have
rules and standards in this house and
you’ll either comply with them or
else.” I never discovered what “or else”
meant, but I just assumed it involved
living outdoors for uncomfortably long
periods of time. It’s difficult to argue
against something so fundamental as a
rule or a standard.
If you’re a young flight instructor,
you’re sure to find this an effective
way to deal with those who attempt to
inappropriately influence your behavior. State your rules or standards in the
language I used, and the discussion
usually ends in your favor. The nice
thing about this is that it’s nonconfrontational language. It is, after all,
the language your students (especially
the older ones) use in their own lives
as attorneys, doctors, managers, and
CEOs. This language makes it easier
for you to remain in control of the
training environment.
If you suspect a student might be the

It wasn’t long after my experience
with Thomas that I began delineating some of my rules and standards in
students’ logbooks. For instance, one
of my 10 rules states, “Student must
notify Rod Machado at least 24 hours
before any solo flight.” There wasn’t a
single student who had an honest misunderstanding of these written rules
during flight training.
Without ill will, some students
might attempt to influence your behavior in ways that aren’t appropriate for
safe and effective flight training. If and
when this happens, frame the behaviors you expect in the language of rules
and standards. By doing so, you’ll talk
to them on the same logical channel
that their mommies and daddies used
on them many years ago. This is how
you can prevent others from mistaking
kindness for weakness.
If that doesn’t work, you can always
insist that they sleep outside for the
night.
Rod Machado is a flight instructor, author,
educator, and speaker. He has been a pilot since
1970 and a CFI since 1973. Visit his blog (www.
rodmachado.com).

AUGUST 2013 FLIGHT TRAINING

/ 57
http://www.rodmachado.com http://www.rodmachado.com
Flight Training - August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - August 2013
