NATCA Bookshelf

15 COMMUNICATING FOR SAFETY Q 2022 Speaker Spotlight Capt. Tammie Jo Shults is a retired Southwest Airlines captain, author, and former naval aviator who received wide acclaim when, on April 17, 2018, she and her crew successfully landed a Boeing 737 after catastrophic engine failure and rapid decompression, saving the lives of 148 people. Shults has spent her entire life loving the skies. Though the odds were against her, she became one of the first female F/A-18 Hornet pilots in the United States Navy. At the conclusion of her Navy career in 1994, Shults went to work for Southwest Airlines. Shults's book, Nerves of Steel, is the captivating true story of her remarkable life – from growing up the daughter of a humble rancher, to breaking through gender barriers in the Navy, to safely landing the severely crippled Southwest Airlines Flight 1380. Her incredible talent and notable history have made her an inspiration to many. NATCA is honored and excited to welcome former U.S. Navy commander, New York Times best-selling author, and leadership and teamwork expert Michael Abrashoff to CFS 2022 Abrashoff is at the center of one of the most remarkable modern day stories of organizational transformation. At 36, he was selected to be Commander of USS Benfold and was the most junior commanding officer in the Pacific fleet. The challenges of this underachieving destroyer were staggering, with low morale and the highest turnover rate in the Navy. Few thought the ship could improve. Yet 12 months later it was ranked #1 in performance – using the same crew. How did Abrashoff do it? By replacing command and control leadership with commitment and cohesion. The lesson was clear: leadership matters and culture is everything. Since leaving the Navy, Abrashoff has worked with over 1,200 organizations instilling leadership initiatives at every level – achieving phenomenal change in unexpected places. Leaders especially identify with Abrashoff being accountable for results in an environment where he couldn't make the rules. He focused on the one thing he could influence: his crew's attitude, because culture is the ultimate competitive weapon for any organization. That's why Wall Street Journal, Fast Company and others have cited Abrashoff's story. It's also why Abrashoff is so popular with such a wide range of audiences. As a keynote speaker, Abrashoff has spoken to every industry and kind of audience – from board retreats to front line personnel, from sales groups to universities, from Fortune 500s to startups. He tailors his message to focus on engagement, execution, change, safety, diversity, leadership, teamwork, innovation, accountability and more. Capt. Tammie Jo Shults Michael Abrashoff

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