Leadership Insights
from the Untangle Doctor®
Blog Post Archive
- AIG 1
- Captain Sullenberger 1
- Hush Hush Tangle 1
- Introduction 1
- Jangle Tangle 1
- Lominger 1
- Marcia Ruben 1
- Meg Wheatley 1
- Strangling Tangle 2
- Tangle 1
- Twitter 1
- VUCA 17
- accountability 1
- adult development 1
- air cover 1
- ambiguity 1
- anger 1
- assessment 2
- backbiting 1
- blame 1
- brain based leadership 2
- cascade tangle 1
- catastrophize 1
- change management 1
- chaos 1
- coach qualifications 1
- collaboration 7
- commitment 2
- communication 4
- competence 3
- complexity 3
- conflict 1
- conflict resolution 1
- consultant qualifications 1
- corporate gridlock 1
- courage 4
- crisis 1
- crooked triangle 1
- culture 6
- decision making 2
- emotional contagion 1
- emotional intelligence 5
- emotions 4
- empathy 2
- empowerment 1
- ethics 4
- executive coach 3
- executive coaching 5
- executive leadership 11
- executive leadership coach 4
US Airways Captain Sullenberger, Leaders, and Strangling Tangles
On January 15, 2009, US Airways flight 1549 took off from New York's La Guardia Airport. By all accounts, this was a routine takeoff, like many that occur day in and day out. However, on this particular flight, something unexpected occurred that required leadership, quick thinking, and skill. The plane hit a flock of birds, disabling both engines. Captain Chesley Sullenberger III deftly guided the plane for a safe landing in the Hudson. All the passengers survived. This miraculous story offers great insight for leaders who want to avoid catastrophes, or what I call Strangling Tangles. A Strangling Tangle is a complex business challenge, further complicated by messy human dynamics that leads to a precipitous drop in revenue or even business failure.