Musings from a Housepainter Turned Fighter Pilot Turned Leadership Coach

In the Beginning, There was Latex Semi-Gloss

Long story short: I’m a house painter turned U.S. Air Force fighter pilot turned International Coaching Federation-certified leadership coach.

Admittedly, I just left out quite a few waypoints along my life’s flight path, and it definitely hasn’t been a straight, simple, effortless course from any of the roles I just mentioned to the next one. But I’m glad to be able to say that I’ve lived a rich life through each and every phase, thanks in large part to the “wingmen” who’ve flown alongside me through lots of blue skies and plenty of turbulence and mission changes, too, wingmen with whom I’ve shared many victories – including getting accepted to and then successfully graduating from Air Force pilot training, and being assigned to fly the amazing F-15E Strike Eagle.

I would of course still love to be on our nation’s fantastic Air Force team, flying today’s phenomenally advanced F-15EX Eagle II – if my body could take it, that is!

Speaking of Victories

My youngest grandson is just one and half years old, so he hasn’t caught on yet; but I’m flattered that my three oldest grandsons (now 11, 9, and 6) are excited that I was a fighter pilot.

After I took them to see Top Gun: Maverick (RIP, Val “Iceman” Kilmer) on the big screen, they said, “You did that?” I said, “Yeah!” – leaving out any technical discussion of how the fighter pilot experience in the movie was a bit different than mine. And then we came back to my house, and I opened a dusty trunk in a dark corner of my basement, and the boys excitedly tried on my antique Combat Edge helmet and oxygen mask.

I have to admit that that was a victorious moment for me! But none of my grandsons have any idea what my leadership coaching role is about these days, and they’re not impressed at all about the housepainting business I had years ago (which was really challenging work) or even about how I finished a Doctor of Education degree in Human and Organizational Learning earlier this summer, at The George Washington University Graduate School of Education and Human Development (which was more really challenging work).

Go, Hippos!

Maybe the boys will be impressed by those other things one day before too long. In the meantime, I’ll ride my Top Gun glory as long as I can, while I go on wishing I were better at Minecraft – because that seems like the easiest way to impress my grandsons right now!

Truth be told, though, I’m really just honored to be their “Papa.”

Isn’t It Funny?

It’s funny how many roles we can play in life and how many things we can try on for size besides along the way, right? And it’s sometimes surprising how they can all be important and significant in all kinds of different ways, individually and together, too, when we add them all up.

My life’s flight path has included times when I was reaching for soffits while climbing precarious 36’ ladders and other times when I was straining to avoid blacking out while pulling 9 Gs in high-performance aircraft, in addition to a host of other sometimes haphazard things. But I’m glad for all (or almost all) of it, at least in retrospect; and I definitely wouldn’t ever trade away my time flying aircraft like the Strike Eagle on our nation’s dedicated and high-performing military team, or my time hanging out with, supporting, and being supported by family, friends, and colleagues of all kinds through lots of good times and bad – because I’ve learned that, somehow, the bad times can sometimes make our journeys together even more meaningful than they would have been otherwise.

And Then There Was Leadership Coaching

As I’ve passed from waypoint to waypoint in my life, I’ve accumulated more hours than I care to remember hanging onto excessively tall ladders; more than 5,000 hours of flying I will never forget in multiple kinds of aircraft in all kinds of conditions; many years of experience as a “flight lead” for teammates in a variety of challenging positions, both inside and outside aircraft cockpits; and many hours of experience since 2018 coaching others who have been committed to improving their own performance as “flight leads”​ and humans in their organizations and communities, and among their families, friends, and colleagues.

All my life’s experiences have helped instill me with my passion for partnering with others now as a leadership coach, in what the International Coaching Federation defines as “a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires [others] to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

Sounds like good work, if you can get it, right?

If you want to be a better leader, I’d be honored to be your “wingman” on that mission.

I can also tell you the best kind of paint to use in your bathrooms.

Check in with me at eric@wingmanexecutivecoaching.com or via LinkedIn direct message, so that we can discuss how I can be of service to you and/or how we can collaborate. I’m always looking for new wingmen!