THE OPS CHECK BLOG

LEAD- They Will Follow

What Does Leadership Look Like? When most people think about leadership, they think about a soldier leading men into battle, or a CEO leading a board room, or maybe a coach of a football team. What if we started looking at the more subtle, less obvious leaders that we encounter daily? My boys are all…

THE 12-HOUR WALK

Yesterday, I walked out my front door before sunrise with my headlamp, backpack and no destination. The plan: walk for 12 hours. No phone. No music. No support other than what I carried on my back, no “end”. I arrived back at my house almost exactly 12 hours later, spent and sore, but clear and…

TOUGH MUDDER

My wife and I recently ran our first Tough Mudder Obstacle Course Races. We didn’t really know what to expect other than getting filthy dirty and having to complete some rather scary obstacles. We made it a point to arrive early to the venue so we could take in the entire atmosphere and really sear…

PEAK PERFORMANCE

PEAK PERFORMANCE: Fighter Pilot Lessons for Elite Levels of Performance in Your Daily Life. 8.5 minute read Crossing the push point at 15,000 feet in a 2+2 formation, I look to my left and see my flight lead a mile and a half just above the horizon. I start to check my systems one more…

BE A CHAMPION

I was reading the book Relentless by Tim Grover (again), when I caught a sentence that really stood out. I have read this book a few times and I guess I never noticed it before. Grover says, you have to “crave the result so intensely that the work to get it doesn’t matter.” We’ve all…

KNOWING IS NOT ENOUGH

Knowledge is power. We’ve heard some version of that before throughout our lives. Teachers, coaches, and mentors all use some version of this to help motivate students or clients to take a positive step toward become an expert in a field. But knowing is not enough. At some point you have to put that knowledge…

Is it Tradition or a Rut?

This pic is from my last flight in the F-15E Strike Eagle, my “fini flight”. The picture is more than evidence of my kids spraying me down with water and my wife pouring freezing-cold champagne down my back. This is part of a ritual promoting camaraderie, reflection, and celebration. This is tradition. The military is…

KILL AND SURVIVE

No, this is not the title of the next popular action movie. When flying complex, tactical missions, often our objectives for the day were as simple as Kill and Survive. Kill. Go on offense. Have a gameplan that takes the fight to the enemy. Defend with vigor and ferocity. Plan with intention. Nothing will stop…

ASK “WHAT IF”

A great question to ask yourself daily: “What If?” Two simple words packing a lot of punch. What if you woke up 5 minutes earlier? What if you helped the little old lady take her groceries out to the car? What if you read 10 more pages of that book? What if you did one…