Brandon Williams

US Air Force Fighter Pilot, Lieutenant Colonel, Leadership Speaker & Coach, Human Factors Professor

Brandon Williams

US Air Force Fighter Pilot, Lieutenant Colonel, Leadership Speaker & Coach, Human Factors Professor

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Biography

Brandon helps leaders transform their teams into high performing, high reliability organizations by harnessing the same tools used by US Air Force Fighter Pilots. Leveraging his work in Human Factors and human performance research, his methodology, Human Factors Leadership, equips leaders to organize, lead, and operate effectively in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments where human error is prevalent.

Brandon Williams graduated from the US Air Force Academy, and is an accomplished leadership business speaker, business owner, and adjunct professor. As a decorated Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, he led men and women from diverse backgrounds and managed millions of dollars in assets. As an F-15E Fighter Pilot, Brandon flew hundreds of combat hours and missions over the skies of Iraq and Afghanistan, operating in some of the most challenging and dynamic environments imaginable.

Over the past decade, Brandon has built his speaking and coaching business to become an accomplished keynote speaker. Having taught at several universities for almost 15 years as an expert in Human Factors, he leverages his in-depth knowledge of human performance analysis to equip leaders for uncertainty and change.

With hundreds of globally-delivered presentations, Brandon has shared battle-tested lessons from the cockpit to help organizations navigate change, excel in complexity and unlock high reliability teams. His results-driven approach fuses dynamic storytelling, actionable frameworks and customized workshops to drive better decisions, catalyze transformation and empower teams to thrive in disruptive environments.

Speaker Videos

Brandon Williams | Leadership Keynote Speaker | Client Testimonials

Meet Brandon Williams | Leadership Keynote Speaker

Perception, Execution, Leadership

Developing Leaders

Resonating with Leadership

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Speech Topics

Leading Through Complexity and Uncertainty: A Fighter Pilot’s Guide to High-Performing Teams

How do we Lead our Teams in Dynamic, Complex, and Uncertain Environments? How do we Lead through Change and make decisions in very dynamic environments? Brandon’s experiences as a US Air Force Fighter Pilot and Officer will give you and your teams the tools to succeed in the dynamic environments we find ourselves in today. Your organization will understand Situational Awareness and how it is used in future decision-making. They will understand how Leaders navigate change and complexity with Autonomy, Peer Accountability, and Mutual Support. And finally, your teams will be equipped to embrace the power of Debriefing with a Tone of Accountability, and ultimately boost performance. Harness tactics based on Human Factors research and used by FIGHTER PILOTS in some of the most fast-paced and dynamic situations imaginable!

Take-aways & Learning Points:

Your organization will understand Situational Awareness and how it is used in future decision-making. Perception-Decision-Execution
Your Leaders will understand how Leaders navigate change and complexity with Autonomy through Peer Accountability and Mutual Support
Your teams will be equipped to establish a Debrief Culture with a Tone of Accountability in the most challenging environments...Psychological Safety
Harness tactics based on Human Factors research and used by FIGHTER PILOTS in some of the most fast-paced and dynamic situations imaginable!

Perfect for:

Teams who want to be motivated and inspired to improve performance
Leaders at any level who want to learn more about Alignment, Communication, Accountability, Decision-Making, Improvement, and Empowerment
Middle & Senior Management, Directors, and Front-Line Leaders

Leading Sales with a Fighter Pilot Mindset

Are you looking to take your sales to the next level? Do you have some pain points within your sales teams that you are struggling with right now? Do you want to equip your sales teams with some better tools to lead through uncertainty and drive better results? Brandon’s experiences as a US Air Force Fighter Pilot and business owner driving sales for his own team will equip your people to win in any sales environment. They will learn how to drive an intense focus on your team’s desired outcome and how to foster accountability through mutual support. Additionally, they will gain valuable tools in how to improve performance through a Debrief Culture. Ultimately, your organization will understand Situational Awareness and how it is used in future decision-making, and how it can prepare them for ANY SALES SITUATION. Harness tactics based on Human Factors research and used by FIGHTER PILOTS in some of the most uncertain and complex situations imaginable!

Take-aways & Learning Points:

Your organization will understand Situational Awareness and how it is used to gain an advantage in a sales environment
Your Sales Leaders will understand how to ensure PEER ACCOUNTABILITY with Mutual Support in a very autonomous operating sales environment
Your teams will be equipped to establish a Debrief Culture with a Tone of Accountability in the most challenging environments...Psychological Safety
Harness tactics based on Human Factors research and used by FIGHTER PILOTS in some of the most fast-paced and dynamic situations imaginable!

Perfect for:

Sales teams looking to improve and boost their performance by exceeding their goals
Sales Leaders, Managers, and Representatives at any level

Leading in Safety with a "Just Culture

Your Team will be inspired, motivated, and excited to Lead in a High-Performing and Psychologically Safe “Just Culture” Environment. Brandon syncs his experience as a US Air Force Safety Officer, Fighter Pilot, and Human Factors Professor to help your team understand how Fighter Pilots operate as a High Reliability Organization. What gaps currently exist? What are the most prevalent Human Factors affecting YOUR Safety Environment? How can you help your People mitigate Human Error and produce a better, more productive, and safe environment? Finally, do you have a “Just Culture” organization, which allows, encourages, and rewards a psychologically safe hazard and error reporting environment?

Take-aways & Learning Points:

Learn about the most Common Human Errors and how to align an organization around realistic Safety Goals
Understand Situational Awareness and how it can help identify gaps in your system
Grasp Mutual Support and Checklists usage to help your People mitigate human error
Learn about Just Culture and how it can transform your Organization into a “Trust and Learn Culture” vs a “Blame and Train Culture”
Embrace the learning power of the Debrief and a Tone of Accountability, and how it can boost your safety leadership and performance

Perfect for:

High Reliability Organizations such as healthcare, manufacturing, construction or industrial environments where errors can cost lives or other severe consequences
Leaders and front line managers and employees interested in reducing and mitigating human error in their teams to improve performance

Flight Plan for Success

Format: 2 – 4 Hour Interactive Workshop

Does your team struggle with connecting strategy to execution? Are you looking for a planning session to drive action on strategic initiatives or improvement within your organization? Our planning workshop leverages a six-step “Flight Plan” process based on Human Factors Leadership to help equip your team with the highest Situational Awareness before planning and making critical decisions. Plan with a Clearly Defined Outcome and ensure success with Mutual Support, Accountability, and Alignment!

Take-aways & Learning Points:

Learn an actionable process to structure planning and organize your teams…strategically or tactically at any level.
Learn and apply a planning process that instills accountability, alignment, and mutual support to ensure plans are seen through to execution.
Learn about ways to uncover and think about “Areas of Vulnerability” BEFORE they present a problem in execution.
Your team will walk away with an ACTUAL PLAN they can execute!

Debrief Culture with a Tone of Accountability

Format: 3 – 4 Hour Workshop

Does your team operate with a Just Culture? Does your organization ensure open and honest communication that drives a “Learning Culture” versus a “Blame Culture?” Our Debrief Workshop will not only teach your Teams how to establish a Debrief Culture, but will also allow them to utilize our model to Debrief, learn, and improve upon an actual task, project, or initiative in your organization. Your Leaders will walk away with ways to ensure accountability, open/honest communication, analysis techniques (perception-decision-execution), and finally HOW to implement improvement!

Take-aways & Learning Points:

Learn and practice a method for creating a "Psychologically Safe" Tone of Accountability Environment for Debriefing.
Learn and practice a method for analyzing execution on an ACTUAL task or project within your team. Uncover the human factors causing errors in your execution.
Walk away with ACTIONABLE Lessons Learned on how to implement improvement and repeat successes in the future.

Interactive Team Building Workshop

Format: 3 – 4 Hour Interactive Workshop

Your team will get to apply Brandon’s methodology in a fun, interactive, and experiential learning team-building exercise. After learning about Brandon’s methodology in Human Factors Leadership, your team will use the Flight Plan for Success framework in a simulated exercise. More importantly, you will work on how your Leaders make decisions in dynamic and uncertain environments. This engaging workshop will force your team to use clear and concise communication, alignment, and mutual support in order to succeed. Finally, finish the day with Brandon leading your teams through a debrief of the exercise, and walking away with better ways to collaborate and make decisions!

Take-aways & Learning Points:

Give your teams a chance to learn together and have fun outside of their normal routine!
Learn and apply a planning process that instills accountability, alignment, and mutual support to ensure plans are seen through to execution.
Learn and practice a method for analyzing execution: The Debrief.
Walk away with ACTIONABLE Lessons Learned on how to communicate more effectively and make better decisions.

Perfect for:

Teams who want to experience a fun, exciting and interactive experiential learning experience!
Leaders at any level who want to learn more about Alignment.

Testimonials

“Brandon’s keynote was absolutely terrific. Energetic, lots of enthusiasm…but most importantly a LOT of specific takeaways that our members can take back to execute on and be better Leaders!”

- National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions

“Inspiring lecture on how to be a good leader and teammate through eliminating complexity.”

- Global Atlantic Financial

“Brandon’s keynote address was phenomenal! The presentation was engaging, motivating, to the point, and very real. Powerful! The information presented on how to lead teams in uncertain and complex environments spoke to the attendees. It was fascinating to learn how the leadership strategy and lessons he learned in the military translated to and applied so perfectly in the civilian world. I learned a lot from Brandon’s stories and real-life examples. It was especially meaningful to hear about the impact of situational awareness and de-centralized execution on leadership success. Furthermore, not only was Brandon well received by the audience but was an absolute pleasure to work with, professional and personable. All in all, he made a powerful impact on the group and made the event a huge success!”

- National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions

“Relevant content, excellent delivery, actionable takeaways!”

- Weaton Companies

“As the Chair of the Iowa Association of Business and Industry, I had the privilege and responsibility to select our keynote speakers for our annual Taking Care of Business Conference, which is attended by over 500 business leaders from across the state of Iowa. I selected Brandon Williams because of his diverse background, including military experience, commercial airline pilot, and consulting company owner. Brandon’s message was powerful. He leveraged stories and audience participation to communicate how to lead through times of uncertainty, complexity, and chaos. He was able to take his military experience and relate it to the challenges we face every day, in every business. He provided a framework and tools to help leaders navigate dynamic situations. I was particularly impressed with his approach to a Just Culture, where your organization drives toward a learning culture, not a blame culture. I would highly recommend Brandon as a keynote speaker.”

- Board Chair, Iowa Association of Business and Industry

“Loved how Brandon connected the pitfalls and challenges in Healthcare Sales to his experiences as a F-15 fighter pilot. A high energy talk that provides a framework on how to process information and translate it into actionable results. This is a talk for everyone - from individual contributors to leaders alike!” Great tangible steps for strategy and teamwork! Fun, inspiring and gives me some strategic action items to implement!”

- Billion to One

“Great keynote on getting intentional and focused on how to lead a team to successful execution!”

- Corner Post Marketing

“Engaging and relevant content that is applicable to every business. Thank you, Brandon—for the presentation and your service to our great country.”

- Workspace, Inc.

“It was an engaging session creating a parallel between something you may not know much about and your business! It made it much more fun and enjoyable to consider your own behavior with your team. It provides actionable steps to apply to help teams better perform!”

- Merrill Manufacturing

“Insightful, relevant and actionable!”

- Storey Kenworthy

“A fighter jet pilot’s role in leadership is incredibly valuable for several reasons. First, it emphasizes the importance of quick decision-making under pressure, a skill crucial for any leader. Their experience in high-stakes environments showcases the need for clear communication and teamwork, as pilots must coordinate with crew and ground support seamlessly. Additionally, they exemplify resilience and adaptability, as they regularly face unpredictable challenges. Overall, their insights (some of which were shared today) can inspire leaders to cultivate these qualities in their own teams, fostering a culture of excellence and readiness.”

- Baptist Health

“Inspirational, Motivational, Real, Genuine!”

- Northwell Health