Lee Ellis's Blog, page 11
April 16, 2025
3 Important Leadership Beliefs to Keep Moving Forward
3 Important Leadership Beliefs to Keep Moving Forward:
Believe in Yourself: You Are Here for a Purpose
In moments of suffering, courage and inner strength become non-negotiable. That does not mean you won���t experience fear, sadness, or doubt���but when you believe in yourself and your mission, you are more likely to endure, find purpose even in hardship, and ultimately bounce back to lead a fulfilling life.
Believe in Others: Strength Through Shared Resilience
One of the greatest sources of strength in adversity is the belief we place in others���and the belief they place in us. We all have the opportunity to be that example for someone else. Others look to us for strength during difficult times, whether they voice it or not.
Believe in the Future: Vision Beyond Hardship
Even in suffering, maintaining a vision for the future is powerful. In the POW Camps, two men designed their dream homes in their minds while imprisoned���and later built them. A former Naval Academy golfer spent hours visualizing his golf swing. Two months after we returned home, he was invited to play in the New Orleans Open Pro-Am on Saturday where he shot a 79���equal to or better than four professional golfers that weekend.
Finding Strength Through Belief
Believing in yourself and in others strengthens your ability to navigate life’s challenges. In situations where the outcome is uncertain and beyond your control, staying positive, living honorably, and doing your best are the only choices that lead to growth.
You can also read the entire coaching blog on this topic – “The Three B’s (Basics) of Resilience”
Team Resilience Development at Your Pace

This training program includes a Leader Guide, Participant Guide, and book along with online video clips.
For a limited time, we���re offering the Leading with Honor Freedom Package that can be used as a personal or group study. Follow step-by-step as your facilitator/leader guides you through each of the 14 leadership lessons.
1 Leader Guide is recommended for each facilitator/leader, and 1 Participant Guide and 1 Leading with Honor book are recommended per participant.
Purchase Your Leading with Honor Training Study
Download a free training session sample
The post 3 Important Leadership Beliefs to Keep Moving Forward appeared first on Leading With Honor��.
April 15, 2025
Principles for Home and Work
A great set of principles for all personal and work relationships – Over 100,000 leaders have downloaded this helpful tool. Go to leadingwithonor.com/code to download your free copy and focus on just one or two of them this week.
#leadership #leadershipcoach #leadingwithhonor
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April 11, 2025
Captured by Love Wisdom for Today, April 11, 2025
���You can be friends without being lovers. And you can be lovers without being friends. But when you combine the two you have what it takes to create and maintain a partnership that can stay alive and vibrant for a lifetime.��� ��� Don & Cheryl Heiliger
POWRomance.com #Romance #Lovestory #Military #marriagegoals #Resilience #VietnamPOW #Courage #Passion #CapturedbyLove #LoveLessons
The post Captured by Love Wisdom for Today, April 11, 2025 appeared first on Leading With Honor��.
April 10, 2025
Giving Back – Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program
���Leading with Honor��� is proud to give our time, attention and support to the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. Their mission is to assist, collaborate, and partner with Services, and agencies at the lowest level possible to provide Service members, Veterans, and Family members with informational events and activities, referrals, and proactive outreach services throughout the phases of deployment or mobilization.
Please learn more about their vital work on behalf of our military ��� thank you @DoDYRRP – www.yellowribbon.mil
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April 9, 2025
Coaching Clip – How to Believe in a Positive Future as a Leader
In this month���s 5-minute coaching clip, Lee takes us back to some pivotal moments in his own life and career where a strong belief in the future was critical. He���ll share some ways that you can also train yourself and your team to believe in a positive future, too.��������
You can also read the entire coaching blog on this topic – “The Three B’s (Basics) of Resilience”
Team Resilience Development at Your Pace

This training program includes a Leader Guide, Participant Guide, and book along with online video clips.
For a limited time, we���re offering the Leading with Honor Freedom Package that can be used as a personal or group study. Follow step-by-step as your facilitator/leader guides you through each of the 14 leadership lessons.
1 Leader Guide is recommended for each facilitator/leader, and 1 Participant Guide and 1 Leading with Honor book are recommended per participant.
Purchase Your Leading with Honor Training Study
Download a free training session sample
The post Coaching Clip – How to Believe in a Positive Future as a Leader appeared first on Leading With Honor��.
April 6, 2025
Albert Einstein’s Most Brilliant Theories ��� A Biography
His very name is a synonym for genius. Born in Germany in 1879, Albert Einstein was a surprisingly poor student and failed his first entrance exam to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich. As a leader in his field, this bio clip shares some of his most brilliant theories���check it out.
#courage #leadership #accountability #employeeengagement #resilience #teamdevelopment #buildingculture #keynotespeaker
The post Albert Einstein’s Most Brilliant Theories ��� A Biography appeared first on Leading With Honor��.
April 4, 2025
Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, April 4, 2025
���When you believe in others���and when they know you believe in them���you create a network of resilience that sustains everyone through hardship.��� ��� Lee Ellis
#courage #leadership #accountability #employeeengagement #resilience #teamdevelopment #buildingculture #keynotespeaker
The post Leading with Honor Wisdom for Today, April 4, 2025 appeared first on Leading With Honor��.
April 3, 2025
Leadership with the Delray Aviators
What a great time at the Delray Aviators Event sharing my stories and leadership lessons with this group of pilots and professionals (and some golf, too). Grateful for their dedication and leadership in their respective spheres of influence.
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March 31, 2025
Coaching Blog – The Three B’s (Basics) of Resilience
Last month, we began our series on resilience by discussing the importance of belief���believing in God, in yourself, in your mission, in your leaders, and in your teammates. Without those strong beliefs, perseverance becomes far more difficult.
So, this month, I want to focus on three of the beliefs that are in the foundation of resilience.
This coaching clip expands on this idea. Please watch, and then continue reading the blog below ���
The Three Essential Beliefs
Believe in Yourself: You Are Here for a Purpose
Each of us has been uniquely gifted with talents and a personality that equip us for a special mission in life. As fighter pilots and airmen in Vietnam, my fellow POWs and I were confident in our ability to execute our mission. However, when we were captured and thrown into prison camps, suffering became our new reality. In those difficult years, our leaders provided us with a simple yet powerful mission statement: Resist, Survive, and Return with Honor.
In moments of suffering, courage and inner strength become non-negotiable. That does not mean you won���t experience fear, sadness, or doubt���but when you believe in yourself and your mission, you are more likely to endure, find purpose even in hardship, and ultimately bounce back to lead a fulfilling life.
Believe in Others: Strength Through Shared Resilience
One of the greatest sources of strength in adversity is the belief we place in others���and the belief they place in us. In the POW camps, we had remarkable leaders like CDR Denton, Lt. Col. Risner, and CDR Stockdale, who endured captivity for seven and a half years. Their resilience inspired us all. They not only led us, but they also sought our perspectives, humbly reinforcing the principle that leadership is about trust and mutual respect.
During my captivity, I shared a cell with Capt. Ken Fisher for five years. He endured more torture and suffering than I did, yet he always bounced back with an unbreakable spirit. Despite my own struggles, he believed in me, treating me with respect and thus encouraging resilience. His example shaped the person I am today.
We all have the opportunity to be that example for someone else. Others look to us for strength during difficult times, whether they voice it or not.
���When you believe in others���and when they know you believe in them���you create a network of resilience that sustains everyone through hardship.��� [Tweet This]
Believe in the Future: Vision Beyond Hardship
In captivity, we had no books, magazines, television, or radio���except for the propaganda broadcasts of Hanoi Hannah. Without distractions, we had nothing but time to think and reflect. I found myself examining my past, learning from my failures, and, most importantly, imagining my future.
Even in suffering, maintaining a vision for the future is powerful. After three months in the Hanoi Hilton, I spent two months mentally designing a farm, expanding it from 60 to 640 acres. Later, I imagined becoming a lawyer, determining what kind of law I would practice and where I would go to school. After our release, though I remained in the Air Force for another 17 years, I did own a farm for five years and always enjoyed advocating for others, or presenting evidence that we should alter our direction���just as I had envisioned.
Other POWs used the same strategy. Two men designed their dream homes in their minds while imprisoned���and later built them. A former Naval Academy golfer spent hours visualizing his golf swing. Two months after we returned home, he was invited to play in the New Orleans Open Pro-Am on Saturday where he shot a 79���equal to or better than four professional golfers that weekend.
Even in the darkest of times, belief in a future beyond the struggle can be a source of motivation and endurance.
Finding Strength Through Belief
Believing in yourself and in others strengthens your ability to navigate life’s challenges. In situations where the outcome is uncertain and beyond your control, staying positive, living honorably, and doing your best are the only choices that lead to growth. When you emerge from suffering, you will find yourself stronger and more prepared for life���s next mission.
At our NamPOW reunion in 2015, six of us sat around a table, reminiscing about our experiences. One of my fellow former POWs said, “I would never volunteer to be a POW, but I wouldn���t change a thing. I���m a better man, and I���ve had a great life.” Every single one of us nodded in agreement.
There are blessings that can emerge from suffering���if we choose to believe. Next month, we���ll explore how to bounce back after hardship.
LE [Tweet This Article]
Team Resilience Development at Your Pace

This training program includes a Leader Guide, Participant Guide, and book along with online video clips.
For a limited time, we���re offering the Leading with Honor Freedom Package that can be used as a personal or group study. Follow step-by-step as your facilitator/leader guides you through each of the 14 leadership lessons.
1 Leader Guide is recommended for each facilitator/leader, and 1 Participant Guide and 1 Leading with Honor book are recommended per participant.
Purchase Your Leading with Honor Training Study
Download a free training session sample
The post Coaching Blog – The Three B’s (Basics) of Resilience appeared first on Leading With Honor��.
March 30, 2025
Leadership History Lesson for March 30th
On this day in leadership history in 1905, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt was chosen to mediate in the Russo-Japanese peace talks.
What���s the leadership lesson? Honorable leaders know that sometimes a neutral third party is needed to help solve disputes (whether inside or outside your organization). Be courageous and ask for help when needed.
Russo-Japanese War – Wikipedia
The post Leadership History Lesson for March 30th appeared first on Leading With Honor��.