Your team already knows what’s wrong. Are they telling you?

Years ago, on a normal, clear day in California, Army helicopter pilot Tony Jackson was flying a Bell 206 with a young enlisted flight observer. He was the type of crew member, Jackson said, who was scared to speak up and wouldn't challenge a pilot who outranked him.Jackson admitted that he hadn't studied the weather the way he usually did. As he flew across the mountains, the helicopter hit mountain wave winds on the lee side of a ridge."So the next thing I knew, the airplane was settling with power. I had pulled 100% of available power, and we're still heading to the ground. And it's squawking at me, squawking, squawking, squawking," he said.His observer never said a word. Once they were safely on the ground, he asked why they hadn't looked at the weather like they normally did."You're absolutely right," Jackson told him.The observer had the right concern. He just raised it after landing, when it could no longer help.Jackson shared that story during a panel I moderated with Gregory McNelly and Max Tosti at NBAA-BACE last month. All three are leaders of Part 91 flight departments.To open our session, "What Goes Unsaid: Psychological Safety and the Risks Leaders Miss," I asked the audience a few quick questions."We'd like you to raise your hand if you can think of a time in your career where you did not speak up for fear of some negative consequence."Now, reflecting again on your career, we'd like you to raise your hand if you can think of a leader whom you worked for that made it clear to you that it was safe to disagree with him or her."OK, keep those hands raised if you can remember some of the behaviors they exhibited that made you know it was safe to speak up."API's Jennifer Pickerel moderates ‘What Goes Unsaid: Psychological Safety and the Risks Leaders Miss' with panelists Gregory McNelly, Tony Jackson and Max Tosti at NBAA-BACE in Las Vegas on Oct. 21, 2026.Hands went up each time."You know what you've all just demonstrated for us?" I said. "Psychological safety."Not everyone knows the term, but we know the feeling. As I told the audience, "We know when it's there, and we know when it's not there."In our work, it matters even more. "Aviation is a high-stakes industry, which means the cost of failure is life and death," I added. "No offense to accountants, but we're not doing books over here."Over the next hour, the panel showed what psychological safety looks like in real life, and how fast the choice to speak up or stay quiet gets made. Usually, it's a matter of seconds.The seconds before someone goes quietJackson's observer kept his concern to himself. In McNelly's case, he did speak up, and it nearly backfired.It happened in Alaska, during his annual requalification for an Army high-altitude rescue team."I'm flying with our chief pilot, and we give our briefing, and everything's normal," McNelly said. "We get her started up, and as he picks it up, he turns to the right. And I thought we briefed we were going to rotate to the left to get into formation. And I said, ‘Hey, Jeff, I thought we were going to turn the other way.' And he goes, ‘Gosh dang it, Gregory! I think I know how to fly this airplane.'"That was very uncharacteristic for Jeff, McNelly said. When he questioned Jeff again, this time about where they'd join the formation, Jeff shot back, "You know, I got 3,700 hours in this aircraft. I think I can fly it and get it into formation."McNelly was getting really frustrated, but he asked one more question and got barked at again."I remember very clearly putting my feet flat on the ground and crossing my arms," he said. "I was thinking, OK, dude, you fly this airplane. I'm not going to help you for one more second."Then he caught himself. McNelly uncrossed his arms and told Jeff that if he'd offended him in some way, he was sorry.That's when Jeff explained. He'd spent two weeks flying with a very new group and was relieved to finally have an experienced pilot beside him. "These people have been down here trying to kill me for two weeks," he said.The goal, McNelly told the audience, is an environment where people feel safe enough to say, "Man, something's off today, and I can talk to you about it."What I loved about that story was the pause. McNelly wasn't in charge, and he was dealing with someone senior to him. He could easily have stayed quiet.That's why I reminded the room that everyone on a team has a hand in psychological safety, whatever their title.You don't have to have the answer yetLeaders still set the tone, though, and Tosti talked about what he calls measured vulnerability. I've heard leaders worry that admitting uncertainty will make them sound incompetent. Tosti is comfortable telling his team, "I'm not sure."He learned that the hard way. Early in his leadership career, he promised an employee the outcome they wanted before he knew what he could deliver. He ended up providing something different, and he said it felt like he'd lied.It's easy to see how that happens. Someone comes to you upset, and you want them to leave feeling better. Saying you need more time can feel like you haven't done enough. Sometimes, though, it's the most honest answer.Tosti has built the same openness into his leadership team. Every Wednesday, leaders from flight operations, maintenance, flight attendants and safety meet with him.He calls it an open-mic policy. Any leader can say, here's the problem I'm struggling with right now. The others bring different perspectives, and sometimes a solution he wouldn't have found on his own.Once the person in charge admits they don't know something, it gets a lot easier for everyone else to do the same.When the room goes silentLike Tosti, Jackson was willing to own a mistake. When I asked whether he'd ever handled bad news the wrong way, he didn't hesitate. "Yes, absolutely," he said.As a young leader in Korea, frustrated by a language barrier, he raised his voice and slammed desk drawers. The room went silent. People closed their notepads and shuffled in their seats, waiting for the meeting to end.That's usually what it looks like when people don't feel safe. Nobody argues. They just go quiet.Today, when someone brings him bad news, his first move is to pause and take a breath. Then he thanks them and lets them explain. When he sets that tone, people fill in the gaps and often suggest what they'd do differently.As a recruiter, I've watched how fast that can change. We once noticed a surge of candidates from a flight department that had always been solid. When I asked one of them why, he said the department had a new leader."Jennifer," he told me, "it went from a safe culture to a culture of fear overnight."The person who speaks secondPlenty of our session attendees didn't lead a team, and I didn't want them to leave thinking this was only a leadership topic.I shared how I've been able to speak truth to power, even when I wasn't a senior leader. Every time, people thanked me afterward. But what still pains me is that nobody stood next to me in the moment.There's courage in being first, but the second person makes all the difference. Watch the next standing ovation. One person stands, and everyone looks at them. A second person joins, and the whole room stands up.So if a colleague raises a concern you share, say so while the discussion is still happening. They'll know they aren't alone, and everyone else will see it's more than one person's worry.Sometimes one sentence is enough. I once worked in an organization where a terrible slur kept going around. I finally said, "Just please don't say that in front of me." Afterward, people told me it had bothered them as well.For anyone hesitating, Tosti was blunt: "The answer is always no, unless you have the conversation." McNelly added, "You will never regret speaking up, but you will regret not speaking up."Give people an openingLeaders can make that first step much easier — just by giving someone an opening.One of my mentors once described a way that he would get more input from his team. Instead of ending every meeting with "Any questions?" which never generated a response, he changed his approach to: "Is there anything I haven't asked?" "Is there a way this plan won't work?"Those questions tell people it's OK to disagree. Then it's on the leader to actually listen.I closed the session with a call to action. The next time someone challenges you, notice your first reaction, and take the same pause McNelly took when he uncrossed his arms.Jackson's observer waited until they were back on the ground to ask about the weather. Often, someone on your team already knows what's wrong. In your next briefing or meeting, who might be waiting until afterward, and what would help them speak up now?About the Author: Jennifer E. Pickerel is President of Aviation Personnel International, the longest-running business aviation recruitment and HR consulting firm. A recognized industry thought leader, she excels in talent development, workforce strategy and cultural transformation. Active in aviation leadership groups, she frequently speaks and writes on hiring trends, culture, inclusion and employee retention.