Interesting reading Whirly. I’ve flown with 5 instructors, and each had their own little foibles - I think you’d call it being human.
For me, communication is at the heart of the instructor / student relationship (if that’s not stating the obvious). My first instructor was very chatty and communicative, and offered constant feedback and constructive criticism. I learnt an awful lot from her, and I think we performed very effectively as a team. The next one had a tendency to say nothing until I did something wrong, and although I could follow his logic (if I’m not broke, don’t try and fix me) the result was that most of his comments were quite negative.
As I was in the latter stages of PPL training and reasonably self-confident, this didn’t bother me too much, but I could imagine how it could knock a low hours student – particularly someone who wasn’t too confident in the first place. I could also sense the potential for conflict had I been someone who responded badly to criticism.
I was quite philosophical, and figured that as a commercial pilot I’d have to fly with a whole range of personalities in any case, so I might as well get used to it. And of course, an approach that worked with me might have been wrong for someone else – it’s horses for courses. However, if I go down the instructing route, it has certainly given me an awareness that effective communication is vital to making sure the student gets the most out of the experience.