Retired Australian airline captain Chris Smith unpacks decades of valuable leadership lessons in a new book titled Leadership at 43000 Feet: Real leaders don’t need a title. Photo: Supplied.
Laudable testimonials usually speak volumes. Such is the case with recently retired Australian airline captain Chris Smith, whose new book Leadership at 43000 Feet is an aviation adventure and a leadership masterclass.
This isn’t a book about imitation; it’s a guide to becoming your best self and cultivating respect that lasts. It is your compass for navigating challenges, making influential decisions and leaving a lasting impact.
When it comes to an extremely serious situation, such as an emergency in the cockpit, decisions aren’t just choices – they are perilous life-or-death situations.
A Brisbane-based leadership specialist, senior lecturer and aviation counsellor, Smith shares wisdom on building meaningful relationships, resolving conflicts constructively, and leading with empathy and authenticity – timeless lessons for transforming how you lead and live.
Drawing on more than four decades’ experience from the flight deck to head office, Smith challenges the conventional notions of leadership, arguing that it isn’t about authority, it’s about earning respect and influence through genuine connection and integrity.
With fascinating stories from his high-stakes career, he reveals how great leaders inspire trust, navigate crises and foster cultures of excellence that endure.
He says: “One thing about true leadership is it’s not just about ‘running’ something, or managing others. It’s not about management models or the many other concepts designed to ‘engage’ people, though they do have a place. It’s about so much more – so many other wonderful things: setting an example, playing our part in trying to be good people, being good to others, genuinely respecting them, being good to the environment, and making the world better throughout our one go at life, no matter our belief system.”
He points out that the truly great leaders around the world have earned respect, and they can influence. Others believe in them. They aspire to be like them. They feel safe with them. They have a kind of love for them.
However, this book is not about copying others. It’s about being a better you, treating others well and reaping the ultimate reward – esteem for you. This paperback is about learning how to earn it. It’s about gaining wisdom. Remember, without others, there is no leader.
Smith admits to always wanting to write a book like this. So, when the time came for him to take an extended break from work, a career he’s “treasured always”, he knew the moment had arrived. So, he wrote “day after day after pleasurable day”. Writing has been a highlight of his life.
“It became so much more than a reflection of my life and experiences – more a deep appreciation of it all, and a re-emergence of memories; a reliving of them,” he declares.
“None of us achieve things alone, and certainly not me. This is no soliloquy. I have my own experiences, some of which I’ve shared in these pages, but these exist with and because of others. So too, we don’t know what’s coming our way, and that’s fortunate. To know wouldn’t be living; just living a script. Not knowing provides us with the limitless; from the magnificent to incredibly hard, the unbelievable to the sublime, and naivety to wisdom. We can then use our imagination to shape our future for the better.
“The cast in my screenplay is boundless. All have had an impact; countless small, but others life-giving, priceless, treasured. These are the ones who really know me; how I think, what I do, what I like, through to my favourite colour (very few know I love ’70s and R&B music, and lavender, totally).”
With years of senior managerial experience in aviation, Smith now champions leadership, engagement and mental health programs with organisations globally. When the time came to transition from flying passengers and planes around the world to helping leaders become more people-aware and considerate, he adopted a modest approach to leadership and to writing.
He is thankful – but then aren’t we all, for the family and friends who stick together – who have been there and borne witness to so many wonderful times, fun, real tribulation, successes, failures and mistakes. Forever grateful!
Smith shares his leadership experience in one of the most critical and high-stakes professions imaginable. By daring to be different, and being completely genuine, one can learn lessons as never told (or taught) before.
“Let’s talk more about the power of humility. It’s potent.”
Leadership at 43000 Feet: Real leaders don’t need a title, by Chris Smith, Publish Central, $39.95
