Never Fly Solo: Lead with Courage, Build Trusting Partnerships, and Reach New Heights in Business

Former fighter pilot Rob "Waldo" Waldman re-earns his wings with this book. Waldo weaves in engaging stories from his years in the Air Force to explain critical leadership principles drawing parallels to our professional and personal lives. An overarching theme is that you can't do it alone. You need wingmen. The fighter pilot metaphor provides a new, fun, and memorable vocabulary to the often stale leadership vernacular. Before you know it you'll be chair flying, checking six, and walking the flight line. If you embrace it, Never Fly Solo will indeed help you "build trusting partnerships and reach new heights in business." Mission accomplished Waldo! Push it up! -- Nick McCormick, author, "Lead Well and Prosper: 15 Successful Strategies for Becoming a Good Manager"

I'm an authority on sales training and have lost consulting deals over the years. But I have NO IDEA what it would mean to lose as a combat aviator. Think about it. Rob "Waldo" Waldman has to make the best decisions possible or he loses - he doesn't return from his mission. What an outstanding resource Never Fly Solo is for anyone in the work world. His thinking reinforces what I believe is the best way to distinguish good from bad business professionals. That is to recognize everyone makes either good or bad decisions. It gets no simpler than that. Read here how an Air Force officer who flies is humbled to learn he's not the hotshot in the sky, but a part of a team that includes ground crew, mechanics, controllers, wingmen and more. And from that experience flows wisdom that you can apply in business today. One of my favorite stories is his description of "chair flying," actually simulating a mission in a chair prior to experiencing it in the cockpit. Mentally running every possible scenario, good and bad, can prepare you to succeed in life, as Waldman did in the air over 60+ combat missions. I most highly recommend Never Fly Solo.

Thank you Rob "Waldo" Waldman for creating such a relevant book about leadership, teamwork and ethical business strategy. Never Fly Solo reveals simple truths with engaging and relatable stories. Clearly there is no margin in the fighter pilot job description to compromise or make poor decisions when life and death hang in the balance. Having trusted 'Wingmen' ensures a higher rate of accuracy and success, which again is hugely important when lives are on the line. But how does that relate to every-day business and life? Regardless of who you are or what your job (business) is; right now, I suspect you are grateful to have it. Some organizations will survive and some will not. Where you will land in this critical environment is largely up to you. Everyone needs to educate themselves in regard to what authentic leadership looks like because it's up to all of us to collectively 'be the change'. Find qualities of leadership in yourself and learn how to see them in others (identify your Wingmen). Critical is what happens just before things go very right or very wrong...and we all have the power to make wise choices and holistically effect the outcome.

Waldo has created a very practical and easy to read guide about how important it is to both trust and rely on others. He gives examples of both success and failure that relate to his unique experience flying fighter jets. It's a great analogy that really resonates in the business world.

As someone who has seen Lt. Col. Rob `Waldo' Waldman speak on more than one occasion, I was understandably excited to get my hands on a copy of his breakout, new bestseller Never Fly Solo: Lead with Courage, Build Trusting Partnerships, and Reach New Heights in Business. Waldo is a highly decorated former fighter pilot with over 2,500 flight hours and 65 real world combat missions, including tours in some of the recent history's most notorious hot spots like Yugoslavia, Iraq and the DMZ between North and South Korea. He is also a successful professional keynote speaker, leadership consultant, and entrepreneur with over 18 years of experience representing high profile corporate clients like Hewlett-Packard, Aflac, Marriott, Medtronic and Nokia. `Never Fly Solo' is a quick read: I read it cover-to-cover in just a few short hours. I was unable to tear myself away, because the book seems to gain momentum with each chapter. Waldo is as articulate a communicator in print as he is in person. For those worried that the military metaphors might confuse: don't be, they are gripping and clear and perfectly applicable to so many of life's most challenging situations, whether they arise in business or personal relationships. It's really amazing how Waldo manages to make his message relatable to a truly diverse group of readers. It's probably because of the incredible breath of his life experience--and, get this, he's only 39 years old! I've already recommended `Never Fly Solo' to a few close friends and coworkers and I have received nothing but rave reviews and words of thanks in return. Waldo's themes are universal: the importance of focus, discipline, integrity, teamwork, leadership, setting high standards (for yourself and others), overcoming your fears, and maintaining a commitment to excellence. But he is clear to emphasize an important life lesson, one learned through years of facing challenges--sometimes life-threatening ones--in military and civilian life. Nobody, says Waldo, no matter how gifted or driven, can achieve success in a vacuum. The real key to winning lies with your wingmen--the men and women in your life who help you to overcome obstacles, adapt to change, and achieve success. Waldo trumpets the importance of networking in a genuine and systematic way and even provides actionable tips on how to make it happen. Another author who does a good job applying lessons learned during some extremely harrowing personal circumstances to finding success in the related fields of entrepreneurialism and investing is Thomas C. Scott, author of Fasten Your Financial Seatbelt: What A Fatal Plane Crash Taught Me About Retirement Planning. Mr. Scott, a crewmember, survivor and celebrated hero of the 1974 Lufthansa Flight 540 crash in Nairobi, Kenya, is now a southern California investment consultant and noted financial commentator who puts his razor sharp instincts and gutsy personal style to work for clients, audiences and readers all over the worl