Reader reviews (ALL 5 Star!)
“Building High Performing Teams Through Selfless Leadership Commitment”
“Of the hundreds of leadership books I have read and referenced over the years, this book stands out as exceptional, if not exemplary. The thread that runs through John Venable’s work is humility and a commitment to help others lead. He doesn’t just talk about what works, he uses good and bad, and interesting, examples, including his own leadership growth, to instruct and encourage. John also offers a good deal of credit to others as leadership examples, and in those descriptions, further reinforces that leadership is never about one’s own individual engagement. Leadership is about selfless commitment to excellence and encouraging, guiding and building high-performance teams. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, found relevane to my own day-to-day leadership challenges and growth, and highly recommend this book to those committed to leadership improvement.”
– Bruce Wright, LtGen, USAF (Retired)
“The most enjoyable book on leadership I have ever read.”
“JV Venable’s new book dives into the lessons he learned as an Air Force officer – both good and bad – and how they helped shape the leadership style that he would implement over his amazing career. His unique perspective of practical, yet powerful, ways to develop a high performance team grabbed me from page 1 and I devoured the book in a single setting. I have read a lot of books on leadership and never found one so hard to put down. I loved the examples of leaders that mentored him and how their advice adjusted his career “flight path”. His perspective on the key pillars of life (faith, family, friends, health & work) and the importance of connecting with your team across multiple pillars opened my eyes to the power of a deeper connection. One that truly builds commitment, loyalty and eventually trust. JV grabbed the reigns as the Commander of the Thunderbirds and through his leadership empowered a team to set aspirational goals and then blow each way. Every reader can walk away with five new ideas to implement in their own way and every team can get excited about the chance to draft from each other in ways they have never done before.”
“Thunderbird Leader brings his leadership acumen to everyday leaders”
“When your life depends upon tightly knit teamwork and superb leadership, you learn it well. JV Venable has lived this experience as a leader of the Thunderbirds. He brings to life the leadership lessons from his extraordinary career. Not many people can speak to leadership from his vantage point. A great read for anyone who wants to understand the relationship between loyalty, commitment and trust to develop high performing teams.”
– Julie L. Thompson
“A Great Read For Leaders”
“I just finished reading an advance copy of JV’s new book “Breaking the Trust Barrier”. Within 24 hours I facilitated a Team Building Event for a very diverse group of 75 employees in my MRO program in Saudi Arabia. Last night I completely rewrote the theme and used Commitment, Loyalty, and Trust as the basis for my exercise for a very broken team. After the day-long exercise breaking down each area of this theme, and culminating with a short speech and reference of how to reach the trust it takes to become and maintain an effective team, my men came to me individually and in groups and congratulated me on the outstanding program and the easily understood message it provided for them. I look forward to hosting and facilitating additional professional development exercises with my team and I will use these well thought out and effective messages I find in JV’s book. Thank you JV. It’s a leader’s responsibility to build a successful cohesive team and you’ve provided me with an outstanding reference to build mine.”
– Richard “Pappy” Lander (CMSgt Ret USAF)