Waldo Waldman
The Wingman – Hall of Fame Keynote Speaker, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Never Fly Solo
Lt. Col. (ret.) Rob ‘Waldo’ Waldman – The Wingman – is a professional leadership speaker and author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellerNever Fly Solo. He teaches organizations how to build trusting, revenue producing relationships with their employees, partners, and customers while sharing his experiences as a combat decorated F-16 fighter pilot and businessman.
Waldo overcame massive claustrophobia and a fear of heights to become a highly experienced fighter pilot with over sixty-five combat missions in Iraq and Serbia. He believes the key to building a culture of trust lies with your wingmen – those in your life who help you to overcome obstacles, adapt to change, and achieve success. In business & life, you should never fly solo!
Waldo is a graduate of the U.S Air Force Academy and also holds an MBA with a focus on Organizational Behavior. An inductee into the prestigious Speaker Hall of Fame, – an honor less than 200 speakers in the world have received, including Colin Powell, Tony Robbins, and Zig Ziglar, he is also a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) with real world sales experience. His clients include Hewlett Packard, Verizon Wireless, New York Life, Siemens, Home Depot, Aflac, and Johnson & Johnson.
In addition to his speaking business, Waldo is the founder and President of The Wingman Foundation, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to build funds and awareness for soldiers, veterans and their families in need. He was voted one of the “Top 40 under 40” business leaders in Georgia and has been featured on Fox & Friends, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, The Harvard Business Review, Investor’s Business Daily, INC. Magazine, and Business Week.
WINGMAN LEADERSHIP
How to Build a Culture of Courage in Business and Life
• How can you instill a climate of ownership in your organization so that every person feels like they are accountable and responsible for its success?
• What tools can you employ to motivate the members of your organization to focus on the mission rather than themselves?
• How can you help create an organization where change and innovation are not met with fear, but embraced with courage and respected as a tool to beat the competition?
The key to building a high performing organization that encourages innovative thinking, loyalty to the mission, effective communication, and a relentless commitment to excellence lies with its leadership. In this high energy, multimedia workshop, Waldo highlights the difference between managing people and leading them to be responsible, empowered and confident wingmen! What results is a more productive and efficient organization with superior morale that can rapidly overcome challenges in a competitive marketplace.
Waldo discusses proven leadership principals based on his experience as a graduate of the Air Force Academy, seasoned Air Force officer and combat decorated fighter pilot, and experienced businessman. Relentless self-discipline, passion for the mission, dedicated teamwork, and a commitment to excellence are a few key elements of this engaging and highly interactive seminar.
Audiences will learn peak performance leadership tools based on 4 key concepts:
I. Shared Vision
a. Each and every wingman in your organization must know exactly what they are fighting for and where they are headed. Not only must they be committed to the mission, but they must also understand exactly how their unique role in the organization is essential to its success.
II. Values Based Culture
a. Integrity, accountability, mutual respect, service, and teamwork must serve as the foundation for all relationships between employees, partners, and clients.
III. Effective Communication
a. Leaders listen aggressively and communicate their vision with passion. They promote open communication and create an environment where mission critical feedback is appreciated and expected.
IV. Train to Win Mindset
a. Successful leaders command performance, they don’t demand it. They encourage their wingmen to expand their capabilities and consistently reward high performers who take calculated risks and ‘push the envelope’ in order to grow.
NEVER FLY SOLO!®
Lead with Courage, Build Trusting Partnerships, and Reach New Heights in Business
Flying solo? You might think so. But take a good look around. You have support staff. You have managers. You have suppliers, vendors, and distributors. And you have colleagues, family members and significant others. By committing yourself to excellence and placing your trust in those around you, you can overcome obstacles, adapt to change, and break performance barriers during adverse times. By placing your trust in your wingmen and by being a wingman to your customers and team, there is no mission you can’t complete!
Discover how to prepare diligently for every mission; employ loyal wingmen to promote integrity and mutual support; and lead your team with courage, compassion and conviction. Be inspired to take to the skies knowing that you have wingmen to help you face challenges and change with confidence while maximizing your potential in all aspects of your life.
Waldo’s clients include Aflac, Marriott, Medtronic, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, Verizon, Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of America, MassMutual, and dozens of national associations.
Waldo, you delivered more than a "call to action" keynote. You exceeded our expectations and left us with a WOW moment that we will always remember. We distributed your book to all 250 attendees and they stood patiently in line for you to sign it which was symbolic of the impact you made. Our motto is now: ONE TEAM, ONE MISSION!
AUTO-OWNERS INSURANCE
You took us on an unforgettable and inspiring journey that was fun, fast-paced, and engaging. You provided our front-line hotel leaders with great takeaways for their everyday business interactions. Quite simply, you have strengthened our entire company & helped enough to have you back two years later. Another homerun!
DAVIDSON HOTELS AND RESORTS
As the keynote speaker at our Global Solutions meeting with a crowd that is normally reserved and hesitant, I can honestly say they leaped to their feet with an enthusiastic standing ovation at his close. He received the highest General Session score of the event and was a pleasure to work with Waldo.
TRANE
As a company in the process of driving major change, we needed a speaker who could help us focus on selling and working as a team. Waldo’s trust your Wingman message went right to the heart of that concept. His energizing message about perseverance, strategy, teamwork, and sales execution are ones that any true sales professional will take to heart. I couldn't be happier with his program.
SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC
You are the best speaker we ever had, which is quite the endorsement since all of our previous speakers were outstanding. You informed, instructed and inspired us and are a great role model of a person who overcame real fears to live their dreams.
WESTERN WATER WORKS
Your content transcended across the 100 top leaders of our global audience and inspired them to action. This was your second engagement with Delphi and you certainty did not disappoint. Your content continues to energize our team today as we are reminded to engage our wingmen and create a culture of mutual support.
DELPHI THERMAL SYSTEMS