Christopher Lanier’s Post

ACI Jet has availability in late Q3 and Q4 for Starlink installations. Check out our link below for a Q&A and get in touch with our team to lock in your slot before the schedule fills up. #connectivity #aviation https://lnkd.in/gpfYRkhn

If you've seen the Band of Brothers series or absorbed the book by the late Stephen Ambrose, you'll be familiar with Capt. Lewis Nixon. He was an officer assigned to Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division during WWII. He was also best friend of the company's legendary leader Maj. Richard Winters. #Veterans of my generation have been influenced by this story. Many will know it. Nixon was an important intellectual and spiritual counterweight for Winters. He helped Winters think more inclusively, see through the eyes of his soldiers. Winters credited Nixon with counseling him through many tough decisions throughout the war. He also credited Nixon with helping him keep his heart and conscience intact during a soul-crushing journey. Nixon was also troubled. Dependent on alcohol, he famously scrounged for his favorite whiskey throughout the war. Booze scouting was among his first actions when the company moved to a new post. Incidentally, Nixon's favorite "Vat 69" was also chosen by Sir Ernest Shackleton to serve "medicinal and celebratory purposes" during the 1914 Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The picture below shows Nixon after "celebratory purposes." Easy had raided Hermann Goering's house in Berchtesgaden, finding a wine cellar containing 10,000 bottles. Winters gave Nixon first choice, and he took a truckload back to his quarters, throwing one of many legendary 506th parties in the days surrounding German capitulation. There are a couple of leadership thoughts which this photo gets me thinking about. 1️⃣ Celebration is normal. When people have done something special, help them mark it. If you don't they'll assume you take them for granted, which maybe you do. I've lost track over the years of how many teams I've watched deliver elite, sometimes world-changing performance, only to find leaders were not nearly as excited as they'd been before, and perhaps were already onto the next challenge without recognizing anyone. Fund the parties. Fund them for everyone, not just executives. 2️⃣ Great people are flawed. Indeed, we're all flawed to a lesser or greater degree. But great people have their flaws exposed more rapidly and completely than the rest of us. Tolerate imperfection. Focus on effort and effectiveness while working to support people with everything else. Including personal demons. Winston Churchill said of a "perfect" colleague "[h]e has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." Human degrees of imperfection often run inverse to potential for greatness. Eliminating imperfect people from our organizations makes us weaker, not stronger. Take Nixon out of the 101st, and we have a very different story. A less effective and inspired Dick Winters, and a diminished team. So if you're working toward a zero defect organization, just remember that this is what victory when it matters most looks like. It ain't gotta be pretty, and it usually isn't.

ACI Jet is looking for experienced and talented remote Flight Dispatchers. If interested, please apply here: https://lnkd.in/g8X6vefR

Many thanks to our 12 Days of Christmas participants who stepped up in a big way for the Youth Aviation Club at Estrella Warbird Museum. 🙌🧑🎓 https://lnkd.in/gJFvHKYY

Are You in a Position to Give? 🤝💙 ACI Jet has partnered with the ESTRELLA WARBIRDS MUSEUM Youth Aviation Club for this year’s fundraising effort during our 12 Days of Christmas campaign. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because we helped raise money for this worthwhile cause earlier this year by donating a sightseeing flight at the Paso Robles 50th Anniversary Airport Day event. We also sponsor and host various events and activities for the museum throughout each year, and ACI Jet employees regularly volunteer their time and talent to the Youth Aviation Club. Every little bit helps, so we’re asking for a contribution of whatever amount you can. Donations to the Estrella Warbird Museum Youth Aviation Club are tax deductible under 501(c)(3), and year-end contributions like this can be a great way to round out your tax plan.  Learn More and Donate Here: https://lnkd.in/ggB742eG