Have you ever met someone who’s highly motivated, full of energy, and ready to take on the world, yet they never seem to get anything done?  They’re passionate and have the greatest intentions, but for some reason they just can’t seem to accomplish their goals. In the fighter pilot world, they are what we call “All thrust and no vector.” They have the power and motivation but lack the vector - the guidance, the target, the direction.  They’re flying in all directions ...

The Wingman Philosophy is all about mutual support. It involves creating an environment where your associates, partners, and significant others can approach you and give you the feedback you may not want to hear, but need to hear. To be a wingman, you not only have be approachable and open to criticism; but also have the courage to give feedback that may put the relationship at risk in order to do what’s right for your company, customers, and team. For example, even ...

How many times a week do you get an unsolicited call at work (i.e. an interruption) where someone tries to sell you something? The person on the line knows absolutely nothing about you or your company (other than the name on the call list in front of them), but is convinced that their product/service is critical for your business. “Can I send you an e-mail and a few pdfs that outline our services?” “Let me direct you to our website and ...

A key component in reaching your goals is to write them down and visualize them every day. This makes your goals real.

How courage, focus, and wingmen can help you tackle your fears Three years into my eleven year Air Force flying career, my life changed when I almost died during a scuba diving trip in the Caribbean. Thirty feet under the water and exhausted from excessive use of my arms to swim, I inhaled a full lungful of water and had the most intense panic attack of my life. I literally thought I was going to die. A week later, I found ...

This weekend I gave $5 to a homeless man that looked genuinely down in the dumps. I rarely give money to the homeless as you never know what the money will be used for. But this guy seemed different. He looked around 30 years old and was frail, in dirty, worn out clothes, and was walking slowly with his head down. As I sat in my car, feeling the breeze through the open window while waiting for the ...

Imagine being strapped into a single-seat fighter jet at 25,000 feet above enemy territory. You tear through the pitch-black sky at the speed of sound in a cockpit so small there’s barely enough room to shrug your shoulders. You must maintain laser-like focus as you operate dozens of weapons and sensors and fend off surface-to-air missiles.

When I flew in combat, the risk of failure was always present. I could have an aircraft malfunction, mess up a critical maneuver, or even get shot down. Success was never guaranteed. Success never is. The possibility of failing at something is a beautiful thing. It incites risk and even helps eliminate complacency. When something is at risk, fear, anxiety and doubt can result. But risk also forces you to stretch yourself and grow. It makes you train, focus, ...

Wingmen, If you're like me, there may be times when your IT systems are enough to drive you wingnuts!  You may find your business struggling with costly computer networks that never seem to perform to your expectations, wondering what will happen if your systems break down, or you may even be experiencing losses in productivity, customer confidence, and even employee morale. To deal with these missiles, I leverage a reliable IT wingman (Randy Pelkey in Atlanta) who comes to my office every ...

I love Memorial Day. It’s a holiday to connect with friends and family while paying respect to the soldiers of our great country who have paid the ultimate price so that we can live free.  From the young soldier in the War of Independence, to the fighter pilot over Nazi Germany, to the infantrymen in Iraq and Afghanistan, they were the ultimate wingmen for our country.  They gave their wings away so that we could fly. In our busy, everyday lives, ...