Become More Teachable
We're continuing our trek through John Maxwell's book Success Is a Choice and looking at how it applies to us as air traffic controllers, and to those of you working to become one.
The title of this series is Success as an Air Traffic Controller Is a Choice.
Each week we look at an area where we get to make a choice, and where being intentional can make us more successful than we would have been otherwise.
This week we start with becoming more teachable.
I can't think of a better thing for controllers to remember.
It doesn't matter if you're in my position, with 35 years in and close to 37, or if it's your first or second day at the Academy.
We always have to be teachable, and we can always be more teachable.
You Are the Lid
Maxwell makes a point about talent that every one of us needs to hear.
Talented people often think they know it all, and that makes it hard for them to keep expanding their talent.
When you think you know it all, you stop right there.
Whatever level you're at is where you stay.
Teachability is all about attitude.
It's the desire to listen, to learn, and to apply. It's the hunger to discover and grow.
As Maxwell puts it, "Intelligent people with teachable attitudes can become extremely successful."
He also says that we are the lid on our abilities, in every aspect of our lives.
If we stop learning and stop growing, that lid stays right where it is, and we can't go past it.
If we stay teachable, we can keep raising the lid.
We can expand not just our talent but everything else in our lives.
Maxwell gives five teachability truths.
Let's go through them one at a time.
Truth #1: Nothing Is Interesting If You Are Not Interested
Teachable people are fully engaged in life.
They get excited about things, and there's a real relationship between passion and potential.
If you're at the Academy, I can tell you from experience, both as a student and as an instructor, that the more passion you have for what you're learning and what you're going through, the better you will be.
Passion drives your talent and energizes it.
Truth #2: Successful People View Learning Differently
Teachable people are always open to new ideas, and they'll learn from anyone who has something to offer.
That's not always your instructors, whether you're at the Academy, a CTI school, or an advanced ATC program. Sometimes the best things you learn come from your classmates, the people going through it with you.
That's why the Academy lets you watch your classmates run problems.
It's encouraged, and when I was there it was even required a couple of times in radar.
I thought that was a great idea.
You get to see how a fellow student deals with the tasks that come up. We always tried to get our students to notice one thing in particular: how much time they actually have to get those tasks done.
When you're in the D-side seat, things come at you so much faster than they actually are. When you're sitting behind someone else, you can see it, because you're not the one trying to get everything accomplished.
You'll learn a lot from your instructors, especially in three months of en route or a little over two months of tower.
And if you practice together, you'll learn from your classmates too.
Truth #3: Learning Is a Lifelong Pursuit
This one is going to be great for the Academy.
Too many people view learning as an event instead of a process.
I've seen it over and over, and I still see it in the Discord chat and other places students gather.
Students arrive at the Academy expecting learning to be a one-time thing.
They expect to go over the lesson in class and then be able to apply it.
It doesn't usually work that way.
Learning at the Academy happens day after day after day.
That's why you have to practice, and practice, and practice everything you go over in that classroom.
It's the only way to take it from the classroom into real air traffic situations.
It isn't theoretical, and you can't just think about it.
You have to actually practice it to make it practical and make it real.
Truth #4: Talented People Can Be the Toughest to Teach
Oh, do I know that one.
I was one of them.
I was probably fairly tough to teach, especially when I thought I knew everything I needed to know.
This is going to sound strange, but don't let your talent get in the way of your success.
Don't rely on the talent you walked into the Academy with.
Don't rely on the talent you had after a month.
Stay teachable and make that talent grow every day.
Try to learn something new every day, and you'll be amazed at the transformation you go through over your time in Oklahoma City.
Truth #5: Pride Is the Number One Hindrance to Teachability
This is the big one.
Pride creates an arrogance of success: an inflated sense of self-worth, along with a distorted view of reality.
Here's how it plays out.
You run a couple of good problems and you start to feel like you've got this.
I'll tell you that you haven't gotten it yet.
Maybe you're in the 11s and 12s in the radar lab and running near-perfect problems.
Don't let your foot off the accelerator.
You're so close to your goal.
Don't go through two and a half months of intensity and then let up in the last two or three days.
One thing I've seen destroy students is thinking they knew everything they needed to know.
It was heartbreaking to watch.
That attitude leads to a loss of desire to learn and an unwillingness to change.
The moment you become unteachable, no matter what skill level you've reached as a controller, that skill level becomes your limit.
You will never get better than the point where you stopped listening.
What Pride Costs You
Maxwell points out several problems with pride, and they apply directly to our world.
Pride closes our minds to new ideas.
Teachability is a willingness to open our minds.
Pride is the exact opposite.
Pride closes our minds to feedback.
You're going to get a lot of feedback at the Academy, whether you're in en route, tower, or TRACON.
Sometimes it won't be as constructive as you'd like.
When I was there, we had some amazing instructors, and we had a few I wouldn't have wanted to sit with my struggling students, because they weren't able to put their feedback in a constructive way.
But many instructors were great with students, especially the ones who were struggling.
Some actively wanted to work with those students.
Stay open to the feedback you get.
Stay open to what your classmates tell you when you practice together.
Be hard on each other, but accept that you're doing it for each other, not to each other.
Pride prevents us from admitting our mistakes.
I still do this one myself.
A situation will come up at work, as it has several times over the last few weeks. I'll work it. Everybody lands, everybody takes off, everybody gets where they want to go.
But it doesn't feel great, and it probably doesn't look great, and I know I could have done it better. So I'll ask the controller next to me, "What were you thinking when I did that?"
They tell me, I try to accept it, and I understand that maybe the next time something similar comes up, I can work it better.
Pride keeps us from making needed changes.
That one's huge.
We have to be able to take feedback, admit our mistakes, and then change so we don't repeat them.
When I trained people in the tower and at the center, I didn't care if they made mistakes.
What I cared about was whether they made the same mistake day after day.
We would talk about it at the end of each day, and some trainees either wouldn't accept the feedback or wouldn't make the change.
How to Overcome a Pride Problem
1. Recognize and admit that you have pride.
We all do.
We all have a lot of self-pride, and it's hard for us to accept feedback.
But in the safety environment we work in, and the one you want to join, you have to accept that you don't know everything. You have to be able to accept help from others.
Pride will keep you from ever seeking help and ever getting better.
2. Express gratitude often.
I try to thank the people around me for helping. I did it at the center, and I did it constantly at the Academy.
3. Learn to laugh at yourself.
I'm sorry you don't get to meet the instructor version of me, because one of my main tenets, as an instructor and as a soccer coach, was that you have to be able to laugh.
It's even better if you can aim some of the jokes at yourself.
This job is stressful and there's a lot riding on it.
We have to laugh and tell jokes.
When I was at the center, my goal was always to say something that busted up the entire specialty. I came close a few times, and I learned that people remembered what I said. I thought I was the only one who did.
How to Tap Into Teachability
Here's how you put it into practice.
- Learn to listen. The number one skill you need as an air traffic controller is the ability to actually hear what the pilot tells you and what other controllers tell you. Over your career, you'll get frustrated with pilots and controllers who refuse to listen. Listen to others, stay humble, and you'll learn something every day that expands your talent.
- Understand that learning is a process. At the Academy, you have three months to get good enough to pass, so you have to get better every day. It doesn't have to be huge leaps. It may feel like tiny steps, and you may look at your classmates and think they're so far ahead. But if you keep getting better every day, I guarantee that at some point the light turns on, or gets brighter, and the steps get bigger. Soon you're taking giant leaps. The evaluations come around day 29 and again at the end, around days 58 and 59, as I remember. The process is built to get you there. They don't expect you to be ready on day one.
- Look for and plan for teachable moments. That's easier at the Academy, where you're in the classroom and the lab. Make them count. Get feedback, admit "Yes, I made that mistake," and then change. Go home and practice it the way your instructor showed you.
- Be a sponge. Take everything your instructors are willing to give you. Ask all the questions. If you leave the lab after a run with a question unanswered, that's not your instructor's fault. It's yours. Ask the question, and make sure you understand the answer.
- Ask yourself the hard question. Am I really teachable? Am I really willing to accept the feedback? Am I willing to change how I'm doing something to get better at it?
One Last Quote and a Dare
John Wooden, the famous basketball coach, said it best:
"Everything we know, we learn from someone else."
I dare each of you to find something you did not learn from someone else.
When you do, email me at tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com and say, "Tom, you were wrong. This is what I learned, and I learned it from inside me. No book, no audiobook, no podcast."
I'll be waiting.
Let's Do This Side by Side
Thank you for reading. If you want help along the way, head to sidebysideatc.com.
You can email me, text me, or set up a free call.
Text is easier than calling, since a call may catch me at work, where I can't respond.
If you're at the Academy, hang in there.
If you're struggling, contact me.
If you're not struggling, contact me.
My goal is to make sure you don't feel alone as you go through this.
Don't try to navigate your ATC journey alone. Let's do it side by side.
FOR HELP:
To set up a FREE call: sidebysideatc.com/scheduler/free-consult
Pre-Academy
If you are heading to the Academy in the next few months, I put together a structured 90-day preparation blueprint that walks you through exactly what to focus on each month before you go. It's designed to help reduce shock and build confidence before day one. You can download it at: sidebysideatc.com/page/blueprint .
I also have a video where I explain the different things that are on the enroute Non-Radar Map. You can get that video at: sidebysideatc.com/page/map-video .
Already at the Academy
If you are already in the enroute radar portion of the Academy and feeling a little behind or lost, I have a 72-Hour Radar Recovery Plan that will help you get past those feelings and start building confidence. You can download that at : sidebysideatc.com/page/72-hourplan .
If you are interested in my Coaching Programs, you can get information at :
or
sidebysideatc.com/page/radar-recovery if you are needing help with the beginning of enroute radar.
Mentorship Program
For information about my mentorship program : https://sidebysideatc.com/page/mentorship
Questions
You can email me questions, or comments, at: tomhanes@sidebysideatc.com .
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