The Consultant's Ultimate Test

The US Airways pilot who saved all those people with a perfect, precision landing on the Hudson River yesterday was Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III. Captain Sullenberger has spent the last 40+ years honing his skills as a pilot, first as an Air Force fighter pilot and later flying gliders and commercial aircraft. He is also a consultant who has advised NASA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA on safety guidelines and procedures.

His consulting company, which is called Safety Reliability Methods, Inc., works with other industries to apply safety techniques that he has developed to their procedures. He teaches classes and provides traditional consulting services in his particular specialty. According to the Web site of his company, Sullenberger was "instrumental in the development and implementation of the Crew Resource Management course used at his airline, and has taught the course to hundreds of his colleagues."

Yesterday when birds turned his jet into a giant glider, he proved that he is not just an advisor when it comes to safety matters. He is a real expert in every sense of the word. He executed the landing perfectly and Mayor Bloomberg said he “walked the plane twice after everybody else was off to verify that there was nobody else on board, and assures us there were not."

Cool in a crisis. Extraordinarily prepared and skilled.

Most consultants believe they can execute their own recommendations flawlessly, but how many of us would pass the test with such spectacular results?