Bill Nelson

This months question is:

Obviously with a sporting back ground you put a lot of emphasis on preparation, but how much?

A lot of times in my presentations I raise the point that:

"Your levels of success will be a direct reflection of your levels of preparation."



I truly believe that performance at the highest level is about preparation. Preparation that is holistic and meticulous. Preparation that covers as much as possible and practical.

I see success as the outcome from the process of preparation. And I know from first hand experience, that anything you leave to chance within the preparation will be exposed and exposed at the most inopportune time.

I also raise the point that:

"The difference in your success and that of the opposition will be the quality of your game plan and your ability to come together as a team to successfully execute that plan."



Once again, the quality of the game plan will come from preparation, as will the ability to come together and execute it.

Now, as far as examples of great preparation are concerned, I could throw a thousand of them at you, but one that has come to my attention again recently, are the US Navy Blue Angels flying team. I have been watching a series called A Year In The Life Of The Blue Angels.

For those long term subscribers of TFN you might remember I wrote about the Blue Angels in our June 1st edition in 2002.

Here is an edited insight to what I wrote at the time:

I found myself over the weekend sitting down with my son and watching brief film clip on the US Navy Blue Angels flight squadron.
Now this opportunity proved to be very timely. As it had only been that day as he and his fellow bandmates had been practising for an upcoming school musical performance. During the rehearsal it had become fairly obvious that there were mixed feelings within the band as to how right they should get each song before they moved onto the next.

So as we sat there watching the "Blue Angels" do their stuff and continued our discussion on what had happened that day at band rehearsal. I asked him this question; "If you guys don't practise well or often enough and go to the school musical performance under prepared what happens?" His reply was something like "We either fluke it and get it right on the day or we are pretty bad and we get     embarrassed?"

"Think about the bands attitude to getting things right in rehearsal and what would happen if you took that attitude to the drills and practise sessions and show days of the Blue Angels" I ask. "Chances are we would probably either crash into each other or into the ground, but its completely different" he pleads. Is it I enquire? "We are group of school kids playing in a band at a school musical. How does that compare with what the "Blue Angels" do?"

Now we get to where it is I wanted him to be. As in some cases there is no comparison between the band and the "Blue Angels" but in other cases there are lots of similarities. This is the same for all teams or groups of people working toward a common outcome.



The ultimate success you get will be determined by how significant the outcome you are trying to achieve is in the minds of those that are pursuing it and what are the ramifications of non-completion of this success?

That now brings us back to the current series on the Blue Angels and nothing has changed about the standards of preparation and performance.

The point I finished off the original article with:

I don't know the "Blue Angels" or anyone associated with them but I would take a gamble and say that their motivation is not fear of           failure but more along the lines that they would want their performances to be a true reflection of the time, effort and knowledge that has gone into hours upon hours of practise and more importantly a true reflection of what the Blue Angels are about and what it is they stand for.

My belief in their source of motivation has become even more apparent through what I have seen in this current series A Year In The Life Of The Blue Angels. Both history and pride play a huge role in what gets done and how by the Blue Angels.

History has highlighted the reputation of what the Blue Angels stand for and there is no doubt, the current team realise it is now their responsibility to maintain and hopefully improve on the history that was created by those before them.

The aspect of pride, although was evident in the past, is more about the current team. And that level of pride is not just confined to the pilots that are so highly visible as the face of The Blue Angels, but the pride is evident in every member of the Team. The level of personal and collective pride is shown in everything they do and how they do it.

Nothing, absolutely nothing, is left to chance. Awareness, attention to detail, personal responsibility, mutual accountability, is evident in everyone and within everything that is associated with the team.

The structure that surrounds the team, highlights the level of performance required as is the level of personal and collective preparation.

Meetings, briefings, visualisation practices, rehearsals, debriefs. Every aspect of preparation is monitored and critiqued by other members of the team. Pilots are asked to critique their own performances and share that critique with their peers and are also then required to listen as the team provide them with their observations of their performance.

Every aspect of preparation is filmed and critiqued.

As I said, there are the pilots, but behind the pilots their is a team that provides so much, but is seen by so few.

The Blue Angels team is quite expansive:

A total of 16 officers voluntarily serve with the Blue Angels. Each year the team typically selects three tactical (fighter or fighter/attack) jet pilots, two support officers and one Marine Corps C-130 pilot to relieve departing members.

The Chief of Naval Air Training selects "Boss," the Blue Angels Commanding Officer. Boss must have at least 3,000 tactical jet flight-hours and have commanded a tactical jet squadron. The Commanding Officer flies the Number 1 jet.

Career-oriented Navy and Marine Corps jet pilots with aircraft carrier qualifications and a minimum of 1,250 tactical jet flight-hours are eligible for positions flying jets Number 2 through 7. The Events Coordinator, Number 8, is a Naval Flight Officer (NFO) or a Marine Corps Weapons and Sensors Officer (WSO) who meets the same criteria as Numbers 2 through 7. The Marine Corps pilots flying the Transport/Cargo-130T Hercules aircraft (Fat Albert) must be aircraft commander qualified with at least 1,200 flight hours.



Career-oriented officers specialising in maintenance, administration, aviation medicine, public affairs and supply fill support positions. The Blue Angels base their selection of officers on professional ability, military bearing and communication skills. Blue Angels officers are well-rounded representatives of their fleet counterparts.

Demonstration pilots, the Events Coordinator, Maintenance Officer and Flight Surgeon serve two years with the squadron. The other officers typically serve three years with the team. Blue Angels officers return to the fleet after their tours of duty.

But what does all that mean to you and your team?

Well, let me put it this way.

Although external recognition is nice, it is not always what others see as being important. It is not about a life and death situation. It is not about the US Navy.



It is about you. It is about what you see. It is about what is important to you. It is about opportunity. And it is about pride.


Pride in what you do, how you do it, and why you do it.

The Journey Continues!