I love seeing people be very good at what they do. But that’s not the entire story.

There are few things that I love more than to see people deal well with calamities and crises or, rather, avoid or contain calamities.

I just love seeing competence.

One major condition. The end goal has to be something positive. Nothing involving deliberate harm.

I also love seeing how people cooperate and really support each other in that type of situation.

Aviation is an environment in which you often see that. I just freaking love it.

PS If people excel at what they do and are highly driven, I tend to be willing to cut them a lot of slack, too. Think crankiness for example if people also do things like pull allnighters.

One of the reasons why I wanted to have my own research group is because it’s wonderful to be able to see people grow and give them the means to do so (support them well, which isn’t the same as micro management).

I always enjoy seeing people do their work happily, too, and now I am particularly thinking lower-level staff. Work shouldn’t be punishment.

People who enjoy what they do spread happiness. They probably have far greater impact on the world than they realise .

It’s not about what they look like. It’s about how they feel.