Leadership and Innovation in High Risk Teams

Synopsis: Leading high risk teams and managing their operation requires a level of trust that far surpasses that normally found in other organizations. Crews must trust each other, certainly, but those of us left behind on the beach must trust them when making decisions that affect their operations. Valuing the expertise and experience of those who go out is the starting point for all innovation.

Description: For all the advances in search and rescue technology; with all our innovation in communications, response, and detection; for all our improvements in survival equipment – at the end of the day, someone still has to go out there and get their hands on the survivors to bring them home. Regardless of the technology that lets you know someone is in trouble and where they might be – those two requirements have been the only two ever necessary to spur rescuers to action and compel them into harm’s way. If someone is in trouble, and you have any idea where they might be – you go. That doesn’t just make rescue teams noble – it makes them fundamentally different than most.

Leading high risk teams and managing their operation requires a level of trust that far surpasses that normally found in other organizations. Crews must trust each other, certainly, but those of us left behind on the beach must trust them when making decisions that affect their operations. Valuing the expertise and experience of those who go out is the starting point for all innovation.

Citing specific examples of things gone right and wrong in the leadership of high risk operations, Mario Vittone will explore the lessons learned by the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Coast Guard, and NASA that should remain in the collective wisdom of us all.

Working on Purpose: Why Mission Matters Most

Inspiring action has always been better than requiring action. Motivation has always been more powerful than subjugation to a standard. Why has always mattered more than how. This simple idea that belief matters has long been a tenant of leadership, but too often, the reason for the work is left out of the directions given by leaders and they get wrapped up in how; in breaking things down into project tasks. Join retired USCG helicopter rescue swimmer Mario Vittone as he explores the value and distinct difference between telling someone to do something, and making them believe that they should be doing it.