Who could forget the iconic image of young John F. Kennedy, Jr, on his 3rd birthday, saluting his father’s casket as it was carried from St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in November of 1963? John F. Kennedy, Sr., President of the United States, had been cut down by an assassin in the prime of his life.

Or, who could forget how John, Jr. would die, along with his new bride, both so young and beautiful, in a plane crash in the prime of their lives? John, Jr. was the pilot. Expert investigators concluded that he lost his bearings and succumbed to vertigo when his plane crashed near Martha’s Vineyard. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported that Kennedy lost control of his aircraft when descending over featureless water with no visible horizon on a hazy night. As a small aircraft pilot, Kennedy was not certified with an instrument rating, meaning he was not trained to fly his aircraft under such conditions.

He should have relied on his instruments to guide his aircraft on that fateful day. Instead, he relied solely on his senses, also known as Visual Flight Rules (VFR), to fly his plane. When he lost his sense of direction and balance, the only thing that could save him was experience and proficiency in flying by his instruments. Had he been trained to use them and rely upon them, he and his wife would have survived. But, because he relied on his natural senses alone, and tried to do what “felt right” in the moment, he crashed. His lack of preparedness resulted in a senseless and preventable national tragedy.

Your principles are your instruments. Identify them, become proficient in them, and use them constantly. And, when the haze, darkness, and confusion of ethical temptations, business misfortune, or personal difficulties cloud your path, you won’t lose your equilibrium and crash like John F. Kennedy, Jr. Instead, you’ll fly straight and true and reach your destination. When you are confused or in the dark, what “feels right” will often be the wrong thing to do. Intuition and experience should never trump your principles. What “feels right” must be checked against your instruments, your principles. If the principles win, your clients win. And, when they win, you win.