From War Room to Corporate Offices: Boot Camp Experience Uses Military Philosophy to Teach Leadership Success - Program Comes to Florida Nov. 8-10

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Running a company amid the current economic strife can feel like navigating through a war zone. It takes effective leadership to survive and thrive in business … not unlike the strong military leadership needed to master a battlefield.

A three-day intensive Leadership Boot Camp Experience slated for Nov. 8-10 at Wells Fargo (150 Second Ave. North, Suite 300 in St. Petersburg) will blend business leadership operatives with military principles. The program is led by Academy Leadership, a Pennsylvania-based leadership training company comprised of Naval Academy, West Point, and Air Force Academy graduates who have paired business acumen honed as successful CEOs with years of military leadership in the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force.

Leadership Boot Camp sessions are led by Tampa resident Jim Emerick, a 1987 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate. Emerick, president/founder of Choinque LLC - a leadership and strategic marketing company for corporate and government clients - brings more than two decades of combined military and small/large business leadership expertise to the sessions. Prior to founding Choinque, Emerick served as vice president of Advanced Technologies for ITT Communications Systems and was responsible for more than $20 million in internal research and development investments, technology and design centers in Palm Harbor, Tempe and Fort Wayne.

Issues addressed during three days of goal-focused, outcome driven workshops include: identifying your "leader's compass," managing time, leading productive meetings, goal setting, communicating as a leader, motivating people, conflict management and coaching others.

"Most people try to avoid conflict, but a strong leader recognizes they need to address conflict and they embrace it," Emerick said. "The most important lesson learned at the boot camp sessions is that many of the issues we all face in our organizations are not as frightening as we think once we start communicating with others."

Leadership from Emerick's Military Perspective

Emerick knows firsthand the importance of communicating goals as a leader. While working on a critical spacecraft technology project as a junior officer, Emerick was tasked with resolving cultural differences between the military and civilians. He knew that the civilians producing the technology and the military had to work together to make it work. "I had to take my position personally, as well as professionally," Emerick said. "I flew to the Pentagon to defend the mission and the people, not just the budget. This experience taught me that leadership is not just important for the military side. The principles of the military are essential for all organizations."

At the time, Emerick did not realize the significant role that the technology would eventually play. Today, that same technology – a computer made to control satellites – has been deployed in over 50 different satellites. Yet, had Emerick not succeeded in guiding fellow military and civilians in these very necessary collaborative efforts, the importance of this vital technology may not have been fully realized.

Like other Academy Leadership facilitators, Emerick has used the skills and leadership honed in the military to build his own successful companies. He has more than 20 years experience creating and leading advanced technology teams within government laboratories, start-up firms and large corporations. He negotiated the successful sale of his first company, innovative systems and technologies corporation (insyte), in 2006. Following his five years of service as an Air Force officer, Emerick received his Master of Business Administration degree in marketing management from the University of New Mexico in 1992.

As a business owner, Emerick recognizes that good leadership is just as vital in the business world as it is in the military. "All organizations have common leadership issues: People want to work with people they trust. They want to believe in the organization they are associated with," Emerick said. "Leadership is not as natural as we all want it to be. Some people have it naturally, but it is not fully developed. It needs to be fostered."

The Academy Leadership Philosophy: Leadership Can be Learned

Contrary to popular belief, the most effective leaders are not "born leaders" according to Academy Leadership. Leadership can be learned. In fact, in an Academy Leadership survey, CEOs said they were born with only 40 percent of their leadership abilities. The remaining 60 percent they developed through experience and education.

The Leadership Boot Camp Experience, offered nationwide by Academy Leadership, produces leaders who energize their teams, enable their people to see a clear relationship between their daily duties and organizational goals, and instill smart work strategies throughout the company to achieve tangible results. The leadership training company was founded in 2000.

"In this business climate, where companies are downsizing and getting leaner, leaders need to be more effective, and do more with less. At Leadership Boot Camp, we'll give you the tools to do that."

For registration and more information about Leadership Boot Camp, scheduled for Nov. 8-10 at Wells Fargo (150 Second Ave. North, Suite 300 in St. Petersburg), call 866-783-0630 or visit www.academyleadership.com.

SOURCE Leadership Boot Camp Experience