Lessons in leadership from a plane crash

After the awful Madrid plane crash last week, I was contacted by Pedro Algorta, who survived a plane crash in the Andes in 1972. He asked me to look at his blog. Part of my interest in leadership is how ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things, and how leadership (self-leadership and with the help of other leaders) can make that happen. Sometimes we only become aware of our ability to perform at extraordinary levels when facing the unfaceable, as Pedro did. Here are the key learning points he says come out of his survival experience. A bio of Pedro and link to his blog are below.

"1. The extraordinary capacity of the human being to overcome the most adverse situations. When one is almost defeated or dead, we build up strength from adversity to continue fighting for life. We go deep into our most basic instincts and gather strength to live.

2. We were ordinary people. Anyone, under similar circumstances would have done the same, and eventually survived. And once you have overcome your mountain, you have another one to climb. Ordinary people can accomplish extraordinary objectives.

3. We couldn’t have survived individually. Survival was team work, which needed each one of us to be OK. You need to work for the team and for you.

4. There were no absolute leaders. Different leaders emerged according to different circumstances. You have to find your authentic leadership style. Not all leaders are alike. One thing is to be a hero, another is to lead.

5. The final walk, as a group objective. The need to live focused on surviving day by day. One day at a time.

6. We didn´t have all the answers. We wanted to live, we worked to survive, but we were not sure we were going to make it.

7. Our enormous capacity to recover. Our resilient capacity. After this ordeal, we have all lived ordinary lives. How we managed. The need to put it in a backpack and look forward.

8. The different perceptions. The ordinary out of the extraordinary. For 35 years this ordeal was not an issue for me."  

About Pedro Algorta 

"I am one of the survivors of the Uruguayan airplane that crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1972. Following the crash, I moved to Buenos Aires, where I graduated in Economics at the University of Buenos Aires and then furthered my education taking a Master in Business Administration from Stanford University in 1982. I have served in top management and board positions in first class Argentine companies in the food and beverage industry such as Cervecería Quilmes, Peñaflor, Campofrío and Cepas Argentinas. While doing my mainstream corporate life, I seldom talked about my Andes survival experience. But now, free of day to day responsibilities I am looking back into my ordeal and I’m willing to share my Andes experience and how I managed to live an ordinal life after such a difficult experience. I’m married to María Noelle, my wife since 1974 and mother of our three children. In 2003, we acquired a cattle breeding ranch in Uruguay, in which we apply state of the art breeding practices. Today, my time is devoted to managing my ranch, leading workshops and talking about my Andes ordeal and visiting our children and grandchildren in Spain."

Here's his blog: Survivor Walk (www.survivorwalk.blogspot.com)