GREAT FALLS, VA / ACCESSWIRE / May 26, 2019 / Rick Rahim says there are many parallels between learning to fly and becoming a successful business executive.
Rick has been a helicopter pilot for the past 18 years. He has also held a fixed wing license (airplanes) for the past 15 years. Rahim is the President of BusinessVentures.com.
Learning to fly was always on Rahim's "bucket list" since the age of 7. But in 2003, Rick fulfilled his lifelong dream to become a pilot.
Rick did it a little differently than most pilots. Instead of learning to fly airplanes first, and then moving on to helicopters, Rick opted to go straight to helicopter instruction. "I literally purchased my first helicopter and took an instructor with me to go pick it up," he says.
Rahim's first lesson began the day he flew his new helicopter home with a flight instructor by his side. Rahim flew full-time with an instructor for five weeks and obtained his rotary wing license.
A few years later, wanting the freedom to go faster and farther than helicopters make practical, Rick repeated the process by purchasing his first airplane in Arizona. "I took a close airline pilot friend with me to pick up the airplane, and he helped my fly it back to Virginia." Rahim quickly added on his fixed wing rating so he could fly airplanes as well.
According to Rick, there are many parallels between learning to fly and becoming a successful business executive. For starters, "You have to realize that every decision you make in the air can have life-or-death consequences. You can't hot-dog when your life and the life of your passengers depend on your actions." Rick says business leaders would do well to attach the same level of importance to their business decisions.
Rahim says it starts with proper preparation. "Student pilots certainly have book work, and must prove their factual knowledge before being able to obtain a pilot's license. You have to have the knowledge in order to be able to do the job," Rick says. The same could be said for business management
According to Rahim, when first learning to fly, a student pilot must let go of his ego and be willing to learn from and listen to his flight instructor. "Great managers also must recognize they do not know everything, and should be willing to listen and learn from those with more experience," he says.
Finally, after the student pilot proves he has the required book knowledge, and passes an exam, he is ready for his practical test. (Pilots must pass a FAA Check Ride with an FAA Examiner in order to receive a pilot's license.)