Lessons on leadership can come from the strangest of places and with the nation and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese currently grappling with the voter impact of the steep rising cost of living, demands for higher wages and trying to show leadership on the controversial matter of The Voice to Parliament, a US pilot gave us all something to learn from.

Recently, an American Airlines captain was caught on video lecturing his passengers about their behaviour before taking off. It has had two reactions.  One reaction was disdain for the pilot who dared treat adults like children, while others, including a Harvard academic, hailed it as an example of great leadership!

One of the great realisations of a person’s ageing is that leadership invariably explains why some people enjoy success and a happy life, while others struggle and keep being hit by dramas and disappointments.

Some of us are lucky if we’ve had parents who are great leaders, while others happily get positively influenced by teachers and sporting coaches, as well as entrepreneurs or business managers they might work with.

Footie coaches like Wayne Bennett, who leads the new NRL team called the Dolphins is famous for not only winning but for rescuing wayward young players, many of whom came from difficult families. Bennett led the Broncos to finals appearances in 22 of his 25 years in charge and won six of his seven premierships with the club.

Inspirational speakers like the legendary Tony Robbins have made a fortune helping people embrace self-leadership to change the personal circumstances that hold them back. Obviously, his guidance doesn’t always work because, as the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink!” Or is it think?

One of my favourite books of all time is John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Maxwell argues that you don’t have to be a natural born leader and you can teach yourself or be taught how to lead. I love his line: “You don’t learn leadership in a day but daily.”

We don’t know whether this American Airlines captain learnt leadership, or it came naturally but he certainly stands out from the crowd when it comes to leading and communicating with the public.

The US website The Hill tells us about Anna Leah Maltezos, a NYC-based writer, director, and comedian, who reportedly was on the plane when the captain gave a pep talk and some straightforward directions about the behaviour he expected on his plane.

Her video picks up the captain mid-speech because Anna undoubtedly was shocked at what she was hearing and knew that it needed to be recorded.

Over the weekend, CNBC captured some of the captain’s communication with his passengers. Here’s a few of them so you can get the feel of his tone and intentions:

1. “Remember, the flight attendants are here for your safety. After that, they’re here to make your flight more enjoyable. They’re going to take care of you guys, but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cabin, and my will is what matters.”
2. “Be nice to each other. Be respectful to each other. I shouldn’t have to say that ... but I have to say it every single flight, because people aren’t. And they’re selfish and rude, and we won’t have it.”
3. CNBC’s Ashton Jackson revealed that “he told passengers to store their bags properly, avoid leaning or falling asleep on other people, and use headphones instead of playing audio out loud on speakers.”
4. And the captain ended with this beauty: “Middle seaters, I know it stinks to be in the middle ... You own both arm rests. That is my gift to you. Welcome on board our flight.”

Bill George, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School and author of “True North: Emerging Leader Edition,” told CNBC’s Make Itsegment that it was leadership worth praising. “I say bravo to the American Airlines pilot. He has every right to do that. He’s the captain of the flight, and he’s in charge of what happens,” he pointed out. “If something goes wrong, he has the obligation to go back to the nearest airport and land ... and no passenger likes that.”

The new age of more flyers and the crumbling of old community standards, many of which respected the group’s collective interests over those of the individual, has resulted in an explosion of unruly passenger reports. In 2021, the US Federal Aviation Administration said they numbered 6,000, but in 2019 the figure was 1,200.

Anna’s video went viral with millions of downloads happening in a short period of time and while many might have been appalled about a person in power exerting forceful influence over his passengers, others would hail it as an overdue example of someone knowing what’s right and what’s wrong.

It's also a case of a leader having the smarts to explain why he should be listened to and then having the guts to tell people how he expected everyone to behave.

And I love his gift to the middle-seaters — that’s unforgettable and should become stated airline policy!

There’s a lesson in all this for business leaders, parents, and politicians, and it’s telling us that it’s time for sensible adults to take charge and challenge some of the crazy trends we’re seeing in society right now.

If we have politicians who are true leaders, we will vote for them and we will accept their ideas. The leadership of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating brought enormous changes to the financial system, trade protections, union behaviour and much more. Meanwhile John Howard and Peter Costello sold a GST, created nine budget surpluses and paid down debt.

That’s why we kept voting for them. And that’s a lesson for the Albanese Government.