Kevin Sweeney

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 and speaker Kevin Sweeney a captivating storyteller and inspirational icon who shares a wealth of experiences and tools necessary for success.

As a speaker Kevin Sweeney is a nationally respected and recognized expert on leadership, the value of being a great teammate, and performance under pressure. He has been a requested guest on over 450 radio stations in the United States and Canada appearing on talk radio where he has inspired audiences with his unique insights into leadership, teamwork, and putting yourself into position to have superior performance under pressure.

For more than a quarter of a century Kevin has been a successful Business Executive at an elite Fortune 50 Company. He has also been a Director at an industry leading software company. Kevin’s experience in sales and operations will give you and your team unique experiences for your success. Kevin will teach you how to compete and how to put yourself and your team in position to differentiate yourselves from the competition and win in the market place. From his leadership experiences you will learn how to have confidence under pressure and how to demonstrate decisive and effective leadership.

Kevin’s real life story describes a combat mission during which the two engines on his left wing were totally ripped off in mid-air, in the darkness of night, while at maximum weight and on a combat mission. It is a compelling story illustrating how your team can overcome any obstacle facing them. He transforms the lessons his team learned into business examples for the benefit of your team.

For their incredible aeronautical feat Kevin and his team were awarded the United States Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross. Kevin understands the value of being a great teammate before, during, and after the event when the Heat is On. Kevin is not just a leader of great teams, he truly understands teams.

Kevin is a combat veteran having flown missions in both Viet Nam and Desert Storm. He spent 23 years in the Air Force and Air National Guard attaining the rank of Lt. Colonel. The teams’ incredible flight, successfully recovering the severely crippled aircraft, has been featured in a September 1992 Reader’s Digest article titled “Bring Them Home” and a featured segment on the A&E channel titled “Wings Over the Gulf.” The experience is also the subject of Air Force training tapes in use today.

Kevin is the author of two captivating books: Pressure Cooker Confidence, How to Lead When the Heat is On and Conversations with the Colonel, Lessons in Life, Leadership, and Wisdom. These books provide insights into the steps of proper preparation. You will learn how to develop a winning attitude. And you will learn the leadership tools required to give both you and your team a laser beam focus on the objective and the confidence needed to make you both successful.

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.