“Are You Up for Taking a Flight by Yourself?” “No pressure.”

My body quietly said no as my mouth said, “Sounds good.”

In the fifteen minutes that followed—securing instructor endorsements, fastening empty backseat belts, completing checklists—an internal conversation unfolded. Intellectually, I knew I was ready. My instructors knew I was ready. The evidence was clear.

My body, however, offered different information: a quickened pulse, heightened awareness, subtle muscle tension.

Rather than dismissing this response, I worked with it. I slowed my breathing deliberately. I focused on one step at a time. I moved methodically through the preflight and launch process. Most importantly, I drew on two things that matter deeply in moments like this: self-belief and commitment.

At fifty-nine, I was decades older than my student peers on the line crew helping me launch the glider. Both were still in high school, and both had recently soloed themselves. I felt a quiet pride in our shared passion for soaring—and in meeting the moment alongside them.

Commitment is something we understand intellectually. We experience it differently when the towplane accelerates, the ground falls away, and you are suddenly airborne—with the only way back being to land the glider yourself.

Leadership moments feel similar.

There are times when readiness has already been established through preparation, training, and experience—yet the body still hesitates. This hesitation is not necessarily fear, and it is not always a signal to stop. Often, it is the nervous system doing its job: heightening awareness, sharpening focus, guarding against complacency.

I’ve had many solo flights since, and I still have this internal conversation before every preflight. I’ve come to welcome it. That cautious voice protects against overconfidence, which creates risk in both cockpits and leadership roles.

As leaders, we are called upon to make go/no-go decisions—sometimes with incomplete information, often with real consequences. The task is not to silence instinct, nor to be ruled by it, but to integrate it with judgment, preparation, and commitment.

As pilot-in-command of your leadership journey, the decision is ultimately yours. Trust the signals. Trust the work you’ve done. And trust yourself to choose—clearly and responsibly—when it’s time to fly, and when it’s time to wait.