Why Saying “I Need Help” Makes Better Leaders (feat. Waldo Waldman)
Waldo is a decorated F-16 fighter pilot and Speaker Hall of Fame keynote speaker. He flew 65 combat missions while fighting claustrophobia and panic attacks the whole way through. He also walked away from one flight, and how he explains that decision changes how you think about fear, duty, and knowing when to press on.
HOST
Matt Poepsel, PhD
Vice President & Godfather of Talent Optimization
GUEST
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Waldo Waldman
Author, Commit, Commit!
Waldo Waldman flew 65 combat missions with claustrophobia strapped in beside him, and he walked away from exactly one flight: a jet ferry run from Spain to the US. No target, no team waiting on him, nobody counting on the outcome. That single sortie taught him where fear ends and responsibility begins.
Matt Poepsel sits down with Lt. Col. Waldo Waldman, a decorated F-16 fighter pilot and Speaker Hall of Fame keynote speaker who now works as an executive coach, to talk about his new book, Commit, Commit! Waldo makes the case that passion goes missing on a 12-hour day, and that the sense of responsibility, knowing others are depending on you, is what keeps a leader pushing up the throttle. They get into check six, the blind spot nobody covers alone, and a helicopter pilot named John who lost his cockpit and found a new mission.
What you’ll learn:
- Mission Mindset: Without a vector and a clear why before you fly, you’re a tumbleweed going wherever the wind pushes.
- Responsibility Over Passion: Passion fades when you’re tired and overworked. Service is love in action, and it keeps you moving anyway.
- Check Six: Every leader has a vulnerable spot they can’t see. Saying “I need help” is a perfectly good answer, and a wingman who checks your six makes you better.
- Knowing When to Quit: Pressing on through fear makes sense when a team needs you. When it doesn’t, another cockpit may hold a bigger mission.
Highlights:
(0:00) Meet Waldo Waldman
(03:12) What “commit, commit” means in the cockpit
(04:46) Why tentative approaches produce suboptimal results
(07:42) What gives responsibility energy to the mission
(10:07) Why responsibility gets taken for granted
(12:38) Check six in today’s world of work
(17:39) Three lies that keep leaders flying solo
(21:03) A helicopter pilot named John and what he learned
(25:58) When to push through and when to take another path
(28:03) Are You Smarter Than AI?
Resources:
Follow Waldo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waldowaldman/
Learn more about Waldo and his new book, Commit, Commit!: YourWingman.com
Follow Matt on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattpoepsel/
Recent Episodes
