Kevin Sweeney

Lt. Colonel Kevin Sweeney is a retired combat pilot, Fortune 50 business executive, bestselling author, and nationally recognized expert on leadership, teamwork, and performance under pressure. His extraordinary career spans more than 25 years as a successful business executive at an elite Fortune 50 company combined with distinguished military service including combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. He has been a requested guest on over 450 radio stations across the United States and Canada.

The Cockpit Leadership Story
During a Desert Storm combat mission, Kevin experienced a life-or-death crisis when two engines on his aircraft’s left wing came completely off during flight. Drawing on years of preparation, training, and the strength of his crew, he successfully landed the plane – an experience that forms the foundation of his flagship keynote, Pressure Cooker Confidence. Kevin uses this dramatic story to illustrate why the hard work done before the pressure hits matters far more than anything done in the moment of crisis.

From Military Service to Business Success
Kevin is the author of two books: Pressure Cooker Confidence – How to Lead When the Heat is On and Conversations with the Colonel – Lessons in Life, Leadership, and Wisdom. His unique background bridging military leadership and Fortune 50 corporate experience gives audiences actionable strategies for developing winning attitudes, laser-beam focus, and the confidence needed for peak performance.

Kevin’s dynamic presentations combine gripping storytelling with practical leadership tools, positioning audiences mentally in the cockpit to experience firsthand the principles of integrity, commitment, and teamwork that drive success under any circumstances.

Integrity, Commitment, Enthusiasm

They’re the attributes of great leaders, great team members and great humans. They’re also the attributes that make Lt. Colonel Kevin Sweeney a captivating storyteller and inspirational icon who shares a wealth of experiences and tools necessary for success.

In today’s dynamic economy, too many individuals are focused on just keeping their jobs let alone excelling in their business and personal lives. The Colonel’s approachable style and sage strategies from both the military and corporate worlds combine to provide a gripping, entertaining and motivating session that will resonate with audience members for years to come. Key areas the Colonel addresses include:

• Decisive Leadership
• Cohesive Teamwork
• Confidence Under Pressure
• Precise Communications
• Lase Beam Focus

Pressure Cooker Confidence
How to Deliver Peak Performance in All Situations Pressure

Cooker Confidence enables you to say “I can, I will, I expect, and I did it”-when the pressure is on. This presentation introduces the five principles of Pressure Cooker Confidence. Learn why the hard work you do before hand matters more than the work you do when the pressure is on. Through the example of an airplane’s team in trouble, this presentation will teach you how to put yourself and your team in position to handle the pressure we all face. Team performance does not just happen. Creating effective teams take talent, time and trust. You will learn to expect to be put under pressure and then to excel under that pressure. You will learn how to become the ‘go to’ person in your organization when the going gets tough.

Pressure Cooker Confidence delivers a concrete process enabling you and your team to:

• Be properly prepared for the unexpected
• Position your mind to expect success
• Have the courage and the confidence to meet and beat your challenges
• Think of pressure like a champion
• Turn pressure into calm confidence
• Focus on the necessary, not the immaterial
• Get the most out of your team
• Be an MVP teammate
• Overcome tough obstacles
• Smile while you overcome heavy pressure
• Learn to prepare for pressure
• Welcome the opportunity to perform under pressure

It’s No Big Deal … I’ve Been Here Before 
Why the Work You Do Beforehand Matters More Than the Work You Do When It Happens

Lack of preparation not only reduces productivity for routine tasks, it allows the unexpected to create insurmountable obstacles. The presentation explains how Unshakable Dedication and Adversity Preparation make the routine easy, and the impossible doable.

Conversations With The Colonel
Imagine getting the opportunity to sit in your living room and have a conversation with a gentleman who has been a leader of thousands of men and women. A man who has been awarded the esteemed Distinguished Flying Cross from the United States Air Force. A man who battled the physical loss of both engines on the left wing of his airplane during a night combat mission in Desert Storm and won! A man who has achieved incredible success as a sales leader in a top 50 American company. A man who led his college basketball team to it’s highest ranking in history. Well… imagine no more.

Conversations With the Colonel puts you and your team front and center, up close and personal with Lt. Colonel Kevin J. Sweeney, the author of “Conversations with the Colonel, Lessons of Life, Leadership and Wisdom” and “Pressure Cooker Confidence, How to Lead When the Heat Is On.” The Colonel will discuss with you an authentic, ethical and realistic view of the attributes needed for successful performance under pressure.  The Colonel shares his extraordinary experiences across a wide and varied spectrum that few if anyone can match.

His sage advice and strategies on leadership, peak performance, team, change, sales, and lessons just in life are griping, entertaining and motivating.  Your team will sit back, relax and learn from this dynamic and respected leader. Their hearts and minds will become receptive allowing them to absorb the advice and counsel of this distinctive individual who happens to have a warm and endearing personality.  Your team will leave the experience with the firm belief that they can excel and succeed beyond their previous expectations.  The remarkable experience of the Conversations With the Colonel lingers long after the personal encounter and gives them the tools for a successful and enjoyable life both personally and professionally.

Pressure Cooker Confidence
How to Deliver Peak Performance When the Heat is On
Pressure Cooker Confidence enables you to say “I can, I will, I expect, and I did it”–when the pressure is on. The Colonel’s flagship presentation built around his dramatic life or death flight during a mission in Desert Storm introduces the five principles of Pressure Cooker Confidence..  Learn why the hard work you do before hand matters more than the work you do when the pressure is on. Colonel Kevin J. Sweeney will position you mentally in the cockpit with him to personally live through his incredible experience and challenge of having the two engines on his left wing come completely off his airplane while on a Desert Storm combat mission.  You will feel the skill, resolve, and team attributes necessary to lead your team to a successful landing in such a dire circumstance.  You will learn how to apply these same principals to your personal and professional life.  You will understand the steps necessary to put you and your team in position to excel under the pressures we all face.  Team performance does not just happen.  Creating effective teams take talent, time and trust.   You will learn how to become the ‘go to’ person in your organization when the going gets tough and trust me it will get tough.

The Plane Is Going Down: Now What Do You Do?
Decorated Combat Pilot Explains What Passengers Can Do to Safely Prepare For Emergency Landing

Every air passenger dreads hearing the words come over the loudspeaker – “The plane is going down, please prepare for emergency landing.” Flight attendants, whose job it is to keep passengers safe, can brief us all they want, but when the moment is upon us, do we really know what to do?

Lt. Col. Kevin Sweeney, US Air Force (retired), and author of the book Pressure Cooker Confidence, How to Lead When the Heat is On by BookSurge (www.sweeneyspeaks.com), is a well-decorated combat pilot with combat tours in Viet Nam and Iraq, and he successfully once landed the military equivalent of a 707 after it lost two engines. He knows better than most what it takes to stay safe and survive an emergency landing, and he wants to share this important information with your listeners.