Situational Awareness 101 Maryland

Situational awareness--knowing where you are, what you can do and how to do it--is a vital to leadership skill. Here's how to hone your own.

Local Companies

Pineapple Interiors, Inc.
301-963-1514
20508 Farcroft Lane
Gaithersburg, MD
Design To Delivery Inc
301-657-4440
7910 Woodmont Ave, Suite 540
Bethesda, MD
CentreTEK
410 465-4880
8307 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD
Comsys
301-921-3655
9737 Washingtonian BLVD
Gaithersburg, MD
Hankin Associates LLC
301-865-8355
6722 Oakridge Road
New Market, MD
Creative Proposal Dynamics
301-702-2574
P.O. Box 639
temple hills, MD
Deep Creek Center, Inc.
410-531-9864
12125 Early Lilacs Path
Clarksville, MD
The Pincus Group
301 938-6990
309 Reserve Gate Terrace
Silver Spring, MD
Bradshaw Designs, Ltd.
301-963-9626
20508 Farcroft Lane
Gaithersburg, MD
TCE Digital Solutions
301.203-7554
10905 Fort Washington Road
Fort Washington, MD


Situational Awareness 101

His avionics showed that the missiles had locked on to his plane, but the pilot knew better. He was certain that he could finish his bombing run and evade the missiles. That split-second decision cost him five and a half years of his life in a North Vietnamese prison.

The pilot is John McCain, and this personal story comes from his newest book, Hard Calls, written with Mark Salter. The book explores how leaders make decisions, in particular the tough decisions, which require guts, determination and something else—situational awareness.

Determining where you are
McCain confesses that naval aviators always believed that they had invented the concept of situational awareness. The questions a pilot must ask in combat are complex and varied but come down to knowing where you are, what you can do and how you can do it. Pushing the limits is fine but sometimes, as with McCain's collision with a SAM missile, you push too far and pay for it. That's one pitfall; the other is not being aware enough of the situation. Both can be costly.

A sound sense of situational awareness is vital to leadership decision making. A leader must know context (what is happening), circumstance (what has happened) and consequence (what could happen) at all times. For pilots, these three factors may converge within seconds; for CIOs, these situations may unfold over days and months. Nonetheless, these underlying principles are worthy of exploration by CIOs and others who deal with constant change and complexity. Let's take them one at a time.


  • Context. A leader must know what he or she is up against—that is, what forces are shaping your world and your decisions. Who or what is pushing for a decision? Is it a competitor? Is it your boss? Is it your community or is it a genuine need? Determining the factors pushing for the decision is vital to making the decision. For example, if you are challenged to reduce costs, you need to consider what to cut and why. Is overhead the problem? Or are you overstaffed? And if you are overstaffed, whom can you cut without reducing productivity? At the same time, do you have the right people in the right jobs? Are they properly trained? Conundrums may arise—that is, you may have to reduce some headcount but add people with different skills. Knowing the context of your decision will help you make the right choices.

  • Circumstance. It is vital to consider the unfolding situation. Life is not static; it is fluid, and therefore whatever a leader does must be framed within variables. Ask yourself: What is changing now and what could change in the future? For example, when you decide to introduce a new product, that product—unless it is totally revolutionary—will face "me-too" competition. What's more, it could face circumstances related to economic and market conditions. Projecting launch dates in the future is good from an engineering standpoint, but no one knows what the market will be like six to 12 to 24 months into the future. Circumstances may be very different.

  • Consequence. Decisions have outcomes. Those outcomes will dictate what a leader does. Also keep in mind that failure to decide is a consequence. Good leaders who push decision making to the front line are those leaders who want their people to be accountable as well as responsible for outcomes. For example, in customer service, it is front-liners who maintain and monitor the pulse of the customer. Who better to consider what's best for the customer? Organizations put dollar limits on decision making, yes, but it is the person who faces the customer who makes the first call. Other decisions, such as capital spending, organizational transformation and product development, involve higher stakes because the consequences are greater. Those decisions are for people paid to make them—the senior leadership team.

    Gain perspective
    Some situations are so multi-dimensioned that these three C's are not enough. You must add perspective from a trusted associate. Knowing what you don't know can have major consequences, as it almost did with Neil Armstrong when he was a civilian research pilot flying the hottest rocket plane of its time, the X-15.


    No hotshot pilot like Chuck Yeager who flew more by instinct, Armstrong was methodical and deliberate. He was an engineer by training and working on his master's in aeronautical engineering at USC. But he was not just a by-the-book flier; he also had flown combat missions during the Korean War.

    Shortly after the death of his baby daughter, Armstrong took the X-15 up to 200,000 feet and then experienced some technical difficulties that forced him to put the craft down in a dry lake bed. A few days later, testing the conditions of a supposedly dry lake bed, Armstrong got his T-33 trainer stuck in the mud. And shortly afterward he made a hard landing in an F-104 that damaged the fuselage and caused the plane to lose hydraulic power. He landed safely, however. Coincidences or bad luck, perhaps, but as explained in his biography, First Man, Armstrong was mourning. His normally sharp mind was dulled with layers of grief that perhaps he did not realize were there. Fortunately Armstrong recovered—so well, in fact, that he qualified for astronaut training and seven years later became the first man to walk on the moon.

    Situational awareness is critical for leaders. Ignoring the facts or blindly pursuing goals may end with disastrous consequences. Sometimes the situation seems as if it is illustrated in sharp relief; you know what must be done and you do it. Other times the situation is opaque; you make your way forward by instinct and feel, always cognizant that you are never totally in command. When it comes to leadership decision making, the latter is more often the case, and for that reason, tough decisions require tough calls.

    John Baldoni is a leadership communications consultant who works with Fortune 500 companies as well as non-profits including the University of Michigan. He is a frequent keynote and workshop speaker as well as the author of six books on leadership; the latest is How Great Leaders Get Great Results (McGraw-Hill). Readers are welcome to visit his leadership resource website at www.johnbaldoni.com.
    © 2007 CXO Media Inc.
  • Featured Local Company

    Global Security Consultants

    888 354 0079
    828 Hollywood Blvd
    Crownsville, MD
    www.globalsecurityconsultants.net

    Related Articles
    - Hiring: Do You Know How to Pick Them? Maryland
    Your small business is growing, the market has a need for the product or service you're selling, and you're bringing in employees to expand your business. What could possibly go wrong? The answer is, a lot, if you don't hire the right people.
    - Go or No Go? That's a Leadership Decision Maryland
    - Adapt Yourself To Lead Maryland
    - A Roadmap for Securing Personal Data Maryland
    - Changing IT Awareness in State Governments Maryland
    - Promotional Products Maryland
    - Beyond Benchmarking Maryland
    - Why Leaders Must Evolve Maryland
    - Identity Theft Measures Maryland
    - Disaster Preparedness Taking a Back Seat Maryland
    Regional Articles
    - Situational Awareness 101 Annapolis MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Baltimore MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Bel Air MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Beltsville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Bethesda MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Bowie MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Brooklyn MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Capitol Heights MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Catonsville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Chevy Chase MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Clinton MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Cockeysville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 College Park MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Columbia MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Crofton MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Cumberland MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Derwood MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 District Heights MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Dundalk MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Edgewood MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Elkridge MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Elkton MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Ellicott City MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Essex MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Forest Hill MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Fort Washington MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Frederick MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Frostburg MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Gaithersburg MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Germantown MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Glen Burnie MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Greenbelt MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Gwynn Oak MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Hagerstown MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Halethorpe MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Havre De Grace MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Hyattsville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Jessup MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Joppa MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Kensington MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 La Plata MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Lanham MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Laurel MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Lexington Park MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Lusby MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Lutherville Timonium MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Middle River MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Millersville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Montgomery Village MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Mount Airy MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Nottingham MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Odenton MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Olney MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Owings Mills MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Oxon Hill MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Parkville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Pasadena MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Pikesville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Potomac MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Randallstown MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Reisterstown MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Rockville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Rosedale MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Salisbury MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Severn MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Severna Park MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Silver Spring MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Suitland MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Sykesville MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Takoma Park MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Temple Hills MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Towson MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Upper Marlboro MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Waldorf MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Westminster MD
    - Situational Awareness 101 Windsor Mill MD
    Related Articles
    - Promotional Products Maryland
    If done properly, promotional items are a proven way to build your brand and get your company noticed. The good news is that custom promotional items are not nearly as expensive as they once were and there are many more options. Now it's on you to come up with a creative promotion - read on for help.
    - Disaster Preparedness Taking a Back Seat Maryland
    - Identity Theft Measures Maryland
    - Beyond Benchmarking Maryland
    - Changing IT Awareness in State Governments Maryland
    - Why Leaders Must Evolve Maryland
    - A Roadmap for Securing Personal Data Maryland
    - Adapt Yourself To Lead Maryland
    - Hiring: Do You Know How to Pick Them? Maryland
    - Go or No Go? That's a Leadership Decision Maryland
    Related Local Events
    Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association
    Dates: 10/24/2008 - 10/27/2008
    Location: Baltimore Marriot Waterfront
    Baltimore MD
    View Details

    2008 SWE National Conference
    Dates: 11/6/2008 - 11/8/2008
    Location: TBA
    Baltimore MD
    View Details

    Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
    Dates: 5/2/2009 - 5/5/2009
    Location: TBA
    Baltimore MD
    View Details

    Meeting of the Ophthalmic Pathology for Ophthalmologists
    Dates: 9/18/2008 - 9/22/2008
    Location: Doubletree Hote
    Rockville MD
    View Details
    Rate Article
         
    Articles Insider

    Rss   Delicious   Digg   Add To My Yahoo   Add To My Google   Bookmark   Search Plugin

    Topics:
    Advertising Family Home Services Software
    Business Services Fashion Internet Technology
    Career Financial Services Legal Telecommunications
    Cars Franchise Miscellaneous Trade Shows
    Computer Hardware Health Nightlife Travel
    Construction Holidays Online Database Weddings
    Education Home Appliances Real Estate Resources World History
    Entertainment Home Electronics