Was the hero of Flight 253 a born leader?

Can we teach 20J leadership like that demonstrated by Schuringa? Yes and no.

It is certain that 20J leaders arrive hard-wired with courage, a sense of calm under pressure and a bias towards action over prolonged analysis. This is evident in Schuringa’s decision to move toward the explosion and subdue the terrorist when he realized that fire threatened the plane. Survival, of course, is a great motivator.

Did Schuringa take time to think? Probably. But like most crisis leaders, he was likely thinking and acting concurrently — with all neurons firing at once. Leaders like Schuringa have a fundamental idea of what they’ll do to address an unexpected situation and tend to rapidly scan the horizon and seize the opportunity to act — rather than sit, watch and analyze for an extended period. It’s also fair to say that they dynamically determine the required next steps as events unfold.