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The Mark Divine Show

4 Principles for High-Performance Leadership From Legendary Blue Angels Commanding Officer

The Mark Divine Show

Mark Divine

Fitness, Sealfit, Business, Leadership, Health & Fitness, Navyseals, Kokoroyoga, Alternative Health, Unbeatablemind, Politics, Entrepreneur, Health, Military, Yoga

4.81.7K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2024

⏱️ 62 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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Greg Wooldridge, three-time leader of the Navy's elite Blue Angels, reveals four core principles that propel the team to unparalleled excellence. These pillars—rigorous debriefing, trust-based humble leadership, powerful visualization techniques, and an unwavering "glad to be here" mindset—enabled the Angels to execute precise, high-stakes maneuvers with remarkable consistency. Wooldridge demonstrates how these principles can eb applied to leaders across all high-performance domains. He provides a blueprint for building and inspiring peak-performing teams in any field.

Greg Wooldridge, a distinguished veteran of the United States Navy, is renowned for his exceptional leadership as the Commanding Officer of the Blue Angels, the Navy’s elite flight demonstration squadron. A seasoned aviator, Wooldridge’s career includes a broad range of command and operational roles, demonstrating his deep expertise in aviation and leadership. Post-service, Wooldridge has continued to inspire as a speaker and mentor, sharing his insights on leadership, teamwork, and performance with diverse audiences. His legacy with the Blue Angels endures through the principles he championed, emphasizing transparency, humility, and relentless pursuit of excellence.

Takeaways

  • The Power of Debriefing: The Blue Angels use a thorough, open debriefing process after each flight. The leader starts by admitting their own mistakes, setting a tone of transparency and accountability. This process builds trust, encourages continuous improvement, and is applicable in various organizational settings.

  • Trust and Humility in Leadership: Humility is crucial in high-performance teams. The Blue Angels selection process prioritizes humble candidates who can interact well with all team members. Trust is built through consistent behavior, transparent communication, and leaders who model humility.

  • Visualization and Mental Preparation: The Blue Angels use extensive visualization techniques to prepare for flights. They practice with eyes closed, listening to the leader's voice and cadence. This mental preparation is key to executing complex maneuvers under pressure.

  • Being “Glad to Be Here”: Maintaining a positive, grateful attitude ("glad to be here") is emphasized as crucial for team morale and performance. This mindset helps manage stress, build team cohesion, and maintain focus on continuous improvement.

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Links For Greg

Twitter

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Why was the scariest moment you had as a blue angel?

0:03.2

Got distracted at the bottom of a loop, took my eyes off the altimeter by an airliner out to my right.

0:09.6

And when I looked back, I looked at the altitude and I looked at the waterbatim, I looked at the water, and I thought, well, the fear jumps in there to

0:16.3

take over. If you can dissolve fear in admitting to your own errors and promising to correct them.

0:23.5

That's when you'll do really well.

0:25.8

So it's authentic to say, you know what, I screwed up and to own it.

0:28.9

It was all about vulnerability.

0:30.4

The trust was so important within the team, interpersonal trust.

0:33.8

And they trusted me.

0:34.8

I trusted them.

0:35.8

How do we develop trusts to come to even like 10% of a blue angel?

0:40.0

I think you have to...

0:42.0

Hi, I'm Mark Devine, and welcome I'm Mark Devine show.

0:44.8

Thanks so much for being here today.

0:47.2

On this podcast I speak to some pretty extraordinary people,

0:50.2

people doing uncommon things, bringing positive things things into the world that are unique.

0:55.2

I'm excited today to talk to Greg the boss Woodridge, three-time fight leader, the Blue Angels,

1:01.5

the only time that there's been a three-time leader.

1:04.0

He also took the team to Moscow, which is an interesting experience, the executive producer of the new IMAX movie,

1:08.8

The Blue Angels picked up by Amazon. He's an expert on Second Chances and Iran for Governor in

1:14.7

Oregon 2018. He's an Accour Problem Solver and a challenge taker. I'm super

1:18.8

stoked to have Greg the boss Waldridge on the Mark Devine show.

...

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