Written by Stan Kuliavas
As the ratio of increased flights and seniority in one’s business continue to accelerate hand in hand, executives can find themselves in a breeding ground of lost hours of productivity, needless fatigue, and distraction. Through private aviation, I have witnessed my clients become masters in optimizing the constraints of 24-hour days. They look at the acquisition of business aircraft as yet another tool in growing their capacity for doing more, not as a luxury experience.
The decision to buy a private aircraft is one of pure economic and temporal efficiency, and in my time working in this field I’ve gained insight into how the most successful executives effectively manage their time.
Below are four key reasons why business aviation can significantly boost productivity, and what the next generation of leaders can do today to follow suit:
1. Perspective is Priceless
Though it may seem cliché, there’s an undeniable sense of objectivity and clarity that comes from flying. As NASA astronaut Sam Durrance once put it, flying is “an emotional experience because you’re removed from the Earth but…you feel this incredible connection to the Earth like nothing I’d ever felt before.” It’s also proven that exposure to these kinds of experiences can increase creativity in overall decision-making. When our sense of curiosity and wonder is triggered, we tend to think more deeply and rationally about decisions, coming up with more creative solutions. Harvard Business Review has written about this extensively here, and I see it tenfold with many of our customers.
How this can work for you: Take a moment to do the unexpected – go for a short walk, enjoy an immersive film, or discover a new working environment – anything to step away from the predictable day-to-day flow. Diversity of experience can provide immense clarity. Often, the choices we labour over are choices that, with perspective, can be easily and effectively made.
2. Fragment Your To-Do List
Often, I notice clients set specific goals for themselves before they leave the tarmac. Their objective is clear: To allocate a specific amount of time for clear, focused work (even if that means not connecting to in-flight wifi). Bryan Guido Hassin, a university professor and start-up founder, uses “airplane days” to set the tone for what needs to be accomplished weekly. Each Monday, Hassin looks at his schedule and declares one day (or two half days) to be considered as “airplane time”. “I block it out on my shared calendar and treat it as if I were in the air: working out of the office, disabling my phone, and shutting off network connections on my laptop,” he says. “This blocked out time each week is my most productive by far.”
How this can work for you: Though connection is key to doing business, disconnecting from distractions and allocating a specific amount of time for focused work does wonders, both for your mind and bottom-line. Take a page from Bryan’s book and place your phone in another room, or bring your team together for an offline brainstorm.
3. The Luxury of Facetime
I’ve observed many of our customers dramatically increase their productivity through private aviation. The ability to visit multiple cities in a day means additional face-to-face contact with current and prospective clients; this has profound impact on relationship building and often, on the bottom line. Need another reason to hop on a plane? A study conducted by Adobe revealed that 75% of employees fear the degeneration of working relationships, thanks to our increased reliance on working remotely. Getting ahead of that now can ensure you set yourself up for success long-term; and there’s no better way to accomplish this than with your own means of getting there.
How this can work for you: Make time for a face-to-face lunch, workout class, or night out with that young entrepreneur in your city, or the business guru down the block. You never know where the outcome could land you.
4. Delegate like a CEO
My clients achieve results through hard work, highly-developed expertise and a great degree of self-awareness. If sales are one founder’s strength, for instance, you won’t find them trying to build a website – they’ll have outsourced this to someone with the right skill-set, keeping their own eye on the prize. Bottom line: High-powered executives recognize the power of leveraging what they do best. If they’re master relationship builders, they prioritize scheduling meetings with key clients, flying there on a Pilatus to maximize both personal and professional efficiency. Every minute matters.
How to make this work for you: Make a list of your core skill set, prioritizing from most experienced to most in need of support. Be sure to recognize where to ask for help, and focus on amplifying your unique talents, instead of trying to do it all. I guarantee this approach will take your productivity sky-high in no time.
