patrickz
Before you start
A chat assistant and the fictional event notes below, or a small event or project of your own.
Why this lesson exists
The archived posts behind “Use a Side Business as a Flight Simulator for Leadership” use real responsibilities to practice leadership. A useful AI draft clarifies ownership while keeping judgment and relationships with people.
Practice material
Fictional. Use it for every step below, or swap in your own later.
Event notes (fictional): coding club open evening, Tuesday 18:30–20:30, library meeting room - Confirmed: Ana hosts and welcomes arrivals at the door. Lee runs the laptop table. - Materials: six loaner laptops (Lee brings them), name badges, printed exercise sheets (not printed yet; nobody has agreed to print them). - Timeline: 18:00 set up; 18:30 doors open; 18:45 short welcome; 19:00–20:00 paired exercise; 20:15 tidy up; 20:30 room must be empty. - Open questions: who covers the door if Ana is late; what happens if the Wi-Fi is down. - Escalation: only the organizer can change the timings or cancel.
Do the exercise
Define the outcome and roles
List what must happen, who owns each decision and where a volunteer or teammate can ask for help. Avoid assigning people responsibilities they have not accepted.
Write the normal route
Create a short run-of-show (a running order with times) listing each step’s timing, materials and handoffs. Make each step actionable for someone who did not attend the planning meeting.
Add exception handling
Describe what to do for a late arrival, missing material or cancellation. Mark decisions that require the organizer rather than giving the draft unlimited authority.
Rehearse and debrief
Have another person talk through the brief. Record where they need extra explanation. After the event compare the plan with what actually happened and update the document.
A prompt to adapt
Replace the bracketed parts with your own details.
Turn these event notes into a one-page operating brief. Include outcome, confirmed owners, timeline, materials, three likely exceptions and escalation contacts represented as placeholders. Do not assign unconfirmed responsibilities or invent attendance. Notes: [notes].
What this looks like
“Someone handles arrivals” is not a handoff. “Confirmed host checks names at the entrance, then introduces each newcomer to the table lead” is observable and teachable.
Check your result
Use evidence from your output. A confident explanation from the AI is not enough.
If it isn’t working
If the draft is too long to use during the event, split the one-page operating brief from the planning archive. Keep sensitive attendee information out of shared examples.
Optional. Progress stays in this browser.
Where this came from
Adapted from the archived LinkedIn theme “Use a Side Business as a Flight Simulator for Leadership.” See the post coverage and editorial method.
Prepared September 2026. Tools and interfaces change; use current official setup instructions. Session lengths are estimates.