Veteran’s Day Special: Disabled Leadership

Join us as we chat with Dr. Tom Wiggins, wounded Ranger Regiment veteran about his experiences when injured, furthering his education, leadership and communicating with his kids.  

 "The military may make you a man but it's how you use your life that matters"

 

Tom has enjoyed a successful career thus far by any measure. He has served in the Army as a decorated Airborne Ranger. He has earned degrees in business, leadership and policy, and andragogy. He has experience leading major organizations in both the private and public sector. Tom is currently a professor of strategy at Army University; Ft. Leavenworth, Ks. You may be surprised to learn; Tom is deaf.

On his fifth combat deployment Tom was severely wounded in action, which would ultimately cost him his hearing. Upon retirement from the military, Tom was recruited by Evergreen Aviation where he served as the Executive Director for the world-famous Evergreen Aviation Museum. During his time with Evergreen, Tom also helped start-up Evergreen Defense & Security Services, which he also presided over. These experiences, coupled with his ongoing education, created a unique understanding of the power of leadership.

For the past ten years Tom has taught thousands of senior military officers and government executives, world-wide, various levels of leadership. In doing so, he has captured and developed the best practices of some of the finest leaders this country has to offer.

 In his latest book, Tom describes a new leadership theory that he refers to as Disabled Leadership. Disabled Leadership examines how disabled people employ leadership traits better than anyone else, and how we can strive to emulate those traits. Disabled Leadership is a person’s ability to gain self-awareness of their greatest weakness, and develop it into a platform to conceive, believe, and achieve life goals through empowerment built from a foundation of resilience.

To learn more about Disabled Leadership click here: https://www.amazon.com/Disabled-Leadership-Dr-Tom-Wiggins/dp/1694324672

Forget everything you think you know about leadership, its time for a new lesson. Disabled Leadership is a new leadership theory that inspires everyone, from disabled veterans to senior executives, to build their leadership from a foundation of resilience. Disabled Leadership is a persons ability to gain self-awareness of their greatest weakness, and develop it into a platform to conceive, believe, and achieve life goals through empowerment built from a foundation of resilience. Fifty-four million Americans suffer from diagnosed disabilities. Tom is one of them. During the course of his twenty-year career, he has been blessed with the opportunity to be inspired by Disabled Leaders, both in the operational environment and in the classroom. Over the past several years Dr. Wiggins has conceptualized what he refers to as “Disabled Leadership”. This concept proves how Disabled Leaders demonstrate leadership traits better than the general population. Disabled Leadership also serves to teach disabled leaders how they may emulate many fundamental characteristics to improve their leadership abilities. Disabled Leadership provides readers with self awareness, teaches leaders how to build platforms for success, and investigates the key traits of Disabled Leadership: Desire, Dedication, and Discipline. Dr. Wiggins shares personal stories and others inspirations in detailing his theory. Disabled Leadership covers a wide range of disabilities from deafness to blindness and from autism to cerebral palsy. Dr. Wiggins invites leaders to conceive, believe, and achieve any aspiration.

This podcast was sponsored by HEB.