Seeing to Lead: What WWII Fighter Pilots Teach Us About Purpose and Vision

Allied fighter pilots in World War II offer more than a compelling piece of history—they provide a vivid blueprint for how leaders today can see more clearly, stay on course, and get close enough to reality to make better decisions. Allied success did not rest solely on better machines; in many cases, German aircraft were faster, climbed better, or outgunned them. Instead, the edge often came from visibility, awareness, and tactics—exactly the capabilities modern leaders need to thrive.​

Vision: Fewer Blind Spots, Clearer Purpose

As the war progressed, Allied fighters such as the P-51 Mustang adopted “bubble canopies” that dramatically improved cockpit visibility. These clear, rounded canopies reduced blind spots around the aircraft, allowing pilots to see more of the sky, spot threats earlier, and avoid the deadly surprise of an unseen enemy slipping in behind them.​​

Leadership needs the same kind of visibility. In organizations, that “bubble canopy” is a clear and compelling purpose—a North Star that shows people what truly matters and where they are headed. As I talked about in a previous article, purpose illuminates the underwater world of invisible work, culture, and effort, connecting what is seen (outputs, results, metrics) to what is unseen (values, behaviors, everyday decisions). Without that illumination, leaders operate with strategic blind spots, reacting to whatever appears in front of them rather than intentionally navigating toward a shared “why.”​

The North Star and Constant Course Corrections

Fighter pilots know that flight paths are never perfectly straight. Wind, turbulence, and small errors constantly nudge an aircraft off course, so pilots are always making micro-adjustments to stay aligned with their heading. They do not panic at every deviation; instead, they keep checking their instruments and visual references, then calmly bring the plane back on course.

Organizations drift the same way. Even with a powerful purpose, daily demands, emergencies, politics, and changing priorities can slowly pull teams away from their true north. Leaders may find themselves busier than ever yet strangely off-mission. The work of leadership, then, is not to demand a flawless, straight-line journey—it is to return, again and again, to the North Star: Why do we exist? What are we here to make better?

I defined a simple, compelling North Star in our organization—“Make Our City a Better Place to Work and Live”—this gave our team a heading against which to check decisions, projects, and priorities. This purpose statement became a practical tool for course correction: if an idea did not support a better city for residents or a better workplace for employees, it did not deserve center stage.​

Flying Low: Tactical Proximity to People

Allied pilots also used another tactic that maps beautifully onto leadership: flying low. At times they would drop to very low altitudes, hugging the terrain to slip beneath German radar coverage and ground-based detection. This low-level approach carried greater risk—less time to react, more obstacles—but it offered a decisive tactical advantage: they could approach unseen and gain a far clearer picture of targets and conditions on the ground.​​

Leaders “fly low” when they leave the safety of the executive altitude and get closer to the people and problems they serve. Walking job sites, visiting front counters, riding along with field crews, joining team huddles, or listening in community meetings are leadership equivalents of low-level flight. From that vantage point, leaders see what is otherwise invisible on dashboards and reports: workarounds, frustrations, broken processes, quiet acts of excellence, and cultural undercurrents that shape performance every day.

Just as Allied pilots used low flight to outmaneuver superior enemy technology, leaders can use proximity as a tactical advantage. In a world of sophisticated analytics and digital “radar,” it is tempting to stay high and read summaries. But flying low—through regular, intentional presence with employees and residents—reveals insights no report can capture and builds trust no email can match.

Seeing What Others Miss

WWII air combat training emphasized a simple rule: “Lose sight, lose the fight.” Pilots who stopped scanning the sky or who allowed an enemy to slip into a blind spot were far more likely to be shot down. The improved visibility of Allied cockpits helped, but it was the combination of better design and disciplined habit—constant scanning, relentless awareness—that proved decisive.​​

In organizations, leaders who combine structural clarity (a shared purpose) with disciplined habits (asking purpose-driven questions, engaging with people regularly, checking for alignment) are the ones who consistently “see” sooner. Purpose-driven decision frameworks only work when everyone understands what the organization is all about and uses that understanding in real time. When individual purpose and organizational purpose resonate, people themselves become additional sensors—spotting misalignment early and helping the organization make those small, constant course corrections back toward its North Star.​

Practical Questions for Leaders

The Allied story invites a few practical questions that leaders can use immediately:

· Vision: Where are your blind spots right now—areas of the organization you seldom “see”? How clearly can people explain your North Star in their own words?

· Course corrections: When was the last time you explicitly used your purpose to say “no” to something, or to adjust a decision that drifted off-mission?

· Flying low: What is one concrete way you can “fly lower” this week—by being physically present with your team or community—and what will you listen for when you do?

Purpose, like cockpit visibility, does not eliminate turbulence. But it does let leaders see more clearly, respond more intelligently, and guide their organizations with intention rather than reaction. When leaders have fewer blind spots, a clear North Star, and the courage to fly low, they create organizations that do more than survive—they become places where people can show up with heart and help extraordinary things happen.