Flying Through the Storm

The Leadership Test Kitchen is a newsletter where I share the real ingredients behind leading and growing successful companies. Some editions feature practical frameworks from CEOs who've mastered challenges in strategy, culture, and growth. Others share the lessons I've learned firsthand as a CEO, or insights I've gained from my work with other executives.

A Conversation with Jodi Garza, President of Kalinin Holdings

Every few weeks, I highlight leaders who are navigating real-world complexity with clarity and conviction. This time, I’m featuring Jodi Garza, who leads Kalinin Holdings and its three airline brands — SeaPort Airlines, Island Air Express , and Alaska Seaplanes — serving communities across Alaska, Washington, and Oregon. 

I have worked with Jodi over the past year through my Vistage cohort, watching her navigate one of the most unforgiving operating environments in aviation: rising fuel costs, a persistent talent shortage, and climbing maintenance expenses, all while delivering the safe, reliable service her communities depend on every single day. Because for these communities, the company is more than transportation. It is an economic and social lifeline that keeps communities connected to one another and to the wider world.

So how have they done it? What is the secret sauce?

The Collective Why

Alignment at Kalinin Holdings, from the boardroom to the ticket counters of its airlines, is truly remarkable. It starts with something simple: every person knows the company’s purpose and how their own why fits into it. Why they are there, and why their contribution matters.

As Jodi puts it, “We are from the villages we serve. Our customers are our family and our friends. They depend on us, and in Alaska, where there are no roads connecting these communities, we need them just as much. We’re delivering everything from medicine to Amazon packages, even livestock. Reliability matters. A Halloween costume delivered a day late just isn’t the same.” 

That is not a mission statement on the wall. It is a deeply felt truth that shapes how every employee shows up to work. This alignment between company purpose and individual purpose is unique. They are not just running an airline; part of their job is sustaining their communities’ future.

Seeking Out Turbulence

Many organizations avoid tension. Kalinin Holdings embraces it, knowing better answers and increased resilience come from different perspectives working together for a common cause.

Kalinin’s airlines look for a particular kind of team member, whether a pilot or a mechanic, someone who has a point of view on how to get better, wants to figure things out together and put the collective need ahead of personal need. That instinct is baked into the company's history, grounded in a culture that puts safety first in everything it does.

Jodi sees her role as Chief Problem Solver. For her, strategy is about choosing the best path forward when the answers aren't clear. Jodi steers her team towards those strategic questions that require debate and deliberation. She brings the team together with clarity, purpose, and speed to break through strategic barriers as they arise. But the problem-solving does not stop at the hangar door. She and her team engage their communities and customers directly in their backyards, sharing perspectives, inviting them to help problem-solve, and building the resilience to persist regardless of the short-term pressures. 

Leading with Curiosity

Navigating this level of complexity, inside and outside the organization, requires leading with curiosity. There are many competing interests and many strong points of view. Jodi seeks to understand all of them, and then tethers those points of view into a workable, pragmatic solution. She has built that skill into her team as well.

Holding Steady in Headwinds

When I asked Jodi how she keeps her team steady in the face of relentless cost pressures, she reached for an analogy only a pilot could give:

“Flying through this cost pressure is like punching into a solid IFR layer with moderate turbulence. You don’t turn around every time it bumps. You trust your instruments and make small, deliberate corrections. The pilots who get into trouble are the ones who overcorrect or chase every needle swing on the dash. The ones who get through it stay disciplined, conserve fuel, and keep the aircraft within limits until they break out on top.”

Lean in. Trust your training. Trust your team. Make small corrections and hold your heading.

The Personal Test of Leading Through Adversity

Jodi’s journey as President of Kalinin Holdings has greatly tested her leadership: her resilience, her adaptability, her trust in others, and in herself. Creating this level of alignment and mobilization in the face of fast-moving, brutal challenges has pushed her listening, energy, creativity, and grit.

What restores her is going back to the cause, remembering why they are here and why she is here. She visits the big and small communities she serves and talks to the people she is fighting for. She empowers herself by empowering and leaning into her team.

Jodi’s story offers lessons for all of us. The biggest and most surprising one: even a selfless leader still has to start with the self. To lead others through uncertainty, one has to be grounded, clear, and aligned with purpose themselves.

If you are having a hard day or a hard run at work, I recommend you revisit Jodi’s story. It’s a powerful reminder that the strength required to lead through hard times comes from within.

A Culinary Note

Fun fact: Jodi served fried chicken made by her grandmother at her wedding, a recipe built on generational perseverance and resilience, and one she still makes from scratch today. Cast iron pan included, because around here, that counts as an ingredient.

I love this about her. It's the same instinct she brings to leadership: manage the temperature, make the pan gravy, mind the order of operations, use all the bits and make the most of what you've got even if you don’t have a lot of ingredients to work with. Salt and pepper heavy.

Simple, purposeful, steady. Sounds familiar…and delicious. I will be following up with her to get the actual recipe!

Originally published on Linkedin on May 6, 2026.

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