Career Lessons from Captain "Sully" Sullenberger

Watching the news coverage of the commercial airplane’s emergency landing into the river in New York I found myself curious about the captain. Who was he? What did he know? How had he learned it? Was it instinct or training, skill or luck?

So what does this have to do with you, your career strategy and maybe your job search? Probably plenty.

Captain Sullenberger had important elements of a successful career – deep passion, aptitude, high-quality and continued education and commitment.

He showed a fascination with flying from a very early age. “Sully” demonstrated an innate understanding of the science of flying. Couple that with an ability to perform in challenging conditions an you have the perfect pilot. He learned to glide as well as jet. Not first in his class at the Air Force Academy but always recognized as a top flyer. Finally, the hero pilot chose to educate himself not just on the task at hand but studied the mindset and potential challenges. In graduate school he researched how crews behaved in the cockpit and understood the role of the leader. His advanced training focused on safety and reliability.

The man on the throttle became well known as a safety specialist, even planning for a second career in the field after retirement. He was actively involved in the advancement of the safety, serving on government accident review teams and as a visiting scholar. He gave back to his own through the Airline Pilots’ Association. And not to be minimized he did the time – more than 19,000 hours in the air.

CB Sullenberger created a career out of a pastime, learned from the best, and expanded his resume into related fields. He had an expertise and was well known for it. He planned for when the market might no longer want or need him. Networking and giving back were part of his routine. CNN searched his LinkedIn.com profile to find his resume because the airline was slow with facts. (It’s no longer posted). He has 13,000 fans on Facebook. Someone beat him to purchasing his name as a domain. When asked about his achievement he answered with great clarity of purpose “that’s what pilots do - we land planes and protect passengers”.

Captain Sullenberger nurtured his talents, has a vision and a career strategy. They served him well. I think at least 154 other people would agree.

What can each of us learn from him and his career?

Copyright 2009 Jane Cranston. Readers are welcome to use or reprint this article as long as you keep the piece whole and in its entirety as well as credit the article to Jane Cranston and ExecutiveCoachNY.com and publish the accompanying bio.