Leadership In Flight: Your Flight Plan for Navigating Life and Leading with Clarity and Confidence

What does it take to lead well — at 35,000 feet, in the boardroom, in the classroom, or at the kitchen table?After more than 35 years on the flight deck, Captain Ben Stern has learned that the principles that keep an airplane safe are the same ones that keep a life, a team, and a family on course. Leadership in Flight is a clear, conversational guide for anyone who wants to lead with more clarity, calm, and confidence — in whatever seat they happen to sit in.This isn't a corporate leadership manual. It's a flight plan, drawn from a career in one of the most demanding leadership environments on earth, and applied to the challenges everyone faces — at work, at home, and in the mirror.A different kind of leadership book.Most leadership books are written for executives, weighed down with jargon, and built for people who have hours to spend studying frameworks. Leadership in Flight is built for real life. It's a back-to-basics approach, refreshingly easy to read, and designed for busy people who want practical wisdom they can actually use — at work, at home, and in every area of life.It started with a nine-year-old looking up.Ben was nine years old the first time he decided he wanted to fly, and he's never looked back. Over the decades that followed — through a career as a Southwest Airlines Captain, work in real estate, and formal training in leadership and personal development — he's been shaped by mentors who saw his potential before he did, by his brother Marc and his sister Linda, and by the long line of crew members, friends, and colleagues who taught him what good leadership looks like up close. Leadership in Flight is, in many ways, his way of paying that forward — passing along what was given to him, in the hope that someone else can use it to lead a fuller life, build a stronger team, and leave a legacy worth carrying.Stories you'll remember. Lessons you can use.Inside, you'll find dozens of real stories — from the flight deck, the boardroom, the family table, and the everyday moments most people overlook. Some show leaders rising to the moment, others reveal lessons learned the hard way, and many honor the quiet people who shaped Ben's journey along the way — because the right influences, mentors, and role models can change everything.What you'll take away:How to lead yourself before you try to lead anyone elseHow to build trust with the people in your crew, your company, and your homeHow to make decisions under pressure without losing your composureHow to mentor well — and stay teachable yourselfHow to recover from mistakes, yours and other people'sHow to choose growth over ego, again and again Who this book is for:This book is for everyone — from students to CEOs, Captains to crew members, entrepreneurs to first-time managers, real estate professionals, coaches, teachers, and parents. Whether you sit at the head of a boardroom or just at the head of your dinner table, the principles inside apply.With a Foreword by Steven De Lorie, FAA Principal Safety Inspector and former American Airlines pilot, Leadership in Flight combines hard-earned operational wisdom with the warmth of a friend who's willing to tell you the truth about what he's learned along the way.This isn't a textbook. It's a flight plan. Each chapter is built around a story you'll remember, a lesson you can use Monday morning, and a question worth sitting with on the drive home.Doors closed. Checklist complete. Let's go fly. Read more