Why Undaunted Leaders Don’t Always Do What’s Practical

What the Blue Angels reveal about purpose, precision, and the pursuit of excellence

In my keynotes and workshops, I describe how close the Blue Angels fly:

If my wingmen could roll down the window in their jets, they could reach up and touch my jet—or the jet in front of them.

I show photos and videos of jets in tight formation—wingtips just a foot or two apart—flying at high speed, low altitude, doing 3-dimensional aerobatics.

Blue Angels teams have been pushing the limits of human capability nearly every day since 1946.

Occasionally, someone asks: “Why?”

Why fly so close? Why take that kind of risk?

I answer in two parts.

First, what looks risky isn’t as reckless as it appears.

Every maneuver is:

• designed with a margin of safety (a small one)

• practiced hundreds of times—higher and farther apart

• carefully briefed and choreographed before every flight

This isn’t about taking risk — it’s about precision, discipline, and trust.

But the second part of my answer goes deeper.

As Walter Lippmann wrote about Amelia Earhart:

The world is a better place to live in because it contains human beings who will give up ease and security… to do what they themselves think worth doing.

They do the useless, brave, noble… things that prove man is not merely a creature of habit, no mere automaton in their routine, no mere cog in the collective machine, but that in the dust of which they are made there is also fire, lighted now and then by great winds from the sky.

That idea matters more than most leaders realize.

Because not everything worth doing can be justified with:

• efficiency

• ROI

• practicality

Some things are done because:

• they represent excellence

• they stretch human capability

• they give people something to believe in

The Blue Angels don’t fly that close because they have to.

They do it because:

• they can

• they care

• and they are committed to being the best in the world

Be an Undaunted Leader: Share the passion behind your mission with your team—especially the part that isn’t practical.

That’s what:

• ignites commitment

• builds resilience

• and inspires people to push beyond what they thought possible

People don’t just follow logic.

They follow belief.