The #1 thing you can do to become an amazing instructor right away~Guest Blogger Kimberly Dawn ATP, Class 1 Flight Instructor, ICAO Certified

The single greatest thing holding you back from being a total rockstar flight instructor is likely something you’ve heard before but not yet ‘heard’. Mentorship. What is it, and why is it so important!?

Instructors who try to become great without a mentor are willingly fighting an uphill battle, much like mechanics who do not complete an apprenticeship. Successfully finishing your schooling only to wander the world alone…makes it very difficult to become good at what you do. There are a lot of mistakes to be made and to learn from, and this is where a mentor can guide you. Mentors help you diagnose common student problems, and better yet, uncommon student problems. They help you avoid pitfalls, they give you a safe space to talk and discuss, and they are an outstanding resource for many things you didn’t think about yet.

We Are All On The Same Team~Guest Blogger Randall Williams, CFII/MEI

If I could say anything to new instructors, I would say that (in addition to being super aware and not letting students kill you) our relationships with examiners will determine so many things about what we as instructors are able to accomplish. Finding examiners that we can work with as a team - and nurturing those relationships (i.e. NETWORKING) - is a big piece of doing this job well.

How well do we ACTUALLY know the examiners we’re sending our fledgling flyers to? Can we not just work within their busy schedules, but also understand/anticipate their needs and requirements? How do we meet each other as professional individuals out to accomplish mutual goals albeit through different procedural lenses? Do we know the examiner's priorities? Finally, how do we as flight instructors consciously extend our reach to meet new DPEs and expand our own horizons? It is only through establishing personal relationships that both parties can begin to answer these questions, but this takes time, effort, and primarily starts with the efforts of the instructor themselves.

The Talent Code~Guest Blogger Adam Magee, LTA DPE/NAFI Boardmember

We’ve all heard the phase – “They were born to fly!” and perhaps that’s true of many, well likely, most pilots. But there is a difference, some pilots indeed have an instinct, or natural talent, for flight..

For many of us we work to instill this natural ability into our flying. However, the book "The Talent Code" reveals that everyone can develop a talent with the right mix of practice, motivation, and coaching. After reading this book, I highly recommend every flight instructor read The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. I promise, I receive no commission!

Mitigating Risks in Aviation with Help from Risk Assessment Tools~Guest Blogger Jon Little CFII/MEI

All transportation methods involve managing some level of risk.  Many people do not consciously realize that during normal activities they are continuously making many risk assessments and mitigations, whether it is while riding a bicycle, taking a jog, or driving a car.  Your brain is analyzing the situations and then you are taking the appropriate action, ranging from:

• Putting on your helmet before you get on your bicycle (lowers your risk for head injury).
• Putting on your reflective vest before you jog (makes you more visible to cars).
• Looking both ways before you pull through an intersection (avoiding a collision with another car).

The FAA has a basic three-step process for Risk Management:

Story Corner: Mickey Mouse's Questionable Flight Training~Guest Video Blogger John Niehaus, NAFI Program Director

Mindful Flight Instruction-Guest Blogger Lauretta Godbey, NAFI Director of Marketing Communications

The definition of mindfulness according to Webster’s dictionary is “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of heightened or complete awareness of one's thoughts, emotions, or experiences on a moment-to-moment basis.” This is a relatively new concept for me that I learned during my recent graduate studies. The intent of mindfulness is to periodically take stock of what you feel, think, see, or hear that might affect the quality of your current state of being. Sounds quite ethereal but let’s unpack this regarding flight training.

Aviation Safety Starts with Us~Guest Video Blogger Jason Schappert, MzeroA.com