Crisis & Leadership: 5 Lessons from AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes

"Adversity introduces a man to himself" – Albert Einstein

As we continue to mourn the tragic loss of AirAsia QZ8051, I couldn’t help but notice the impressive leadership of CEO Tony Fernandes throughout the crisis. As an active social media user, he has utilised Twitter to send a consistent stream of inspiring, yet sensitive tweets to both his staff and customers. I fly monthly between Bali and Singapore, on a similar flight path, so this incident was close to home. As a leadership trainer, I’ve been impressed with the manner in which he has conducted himself, and the way he puts the concerns of his staff and passengers before his own. Let’s look at 5 key lessons we can learn from his recent posts.

4 Things The Festive Season Teaches You About Leadership

For those of you celebrating this holiday season, Christmas is a time when many reflect back on the past year and make an extra effort to connect with friends and family. However many don’t realise the leadership lessons that can be learnt from the festive season.

1. The Season of Giving - The old adage of ‘Christmas is about giving, not receiving’ also rings true for leadership. Successful leaders are those who give feedback, recognition and praise, and their time…on a daily basis. These leaders don’t worry about what they might receive from their boss, or their peers, they focus intensely on motivating and inspiring their teams to outperform. In The Carrot Principle, a 10-year motivation study of over 200,000 employees concluded that the simple act of managers ‘recognising’ their employees results in them having lower turnover rates, better organisation results, and higher engagement levels. Give feedback promptly and regularly, give recognition and praise publicly and consistently, and give your time generously.