Confident Leadership and Leading Through Change with Derek Oaks

In this episode of Change Leader Insights, Jessica Crow speaks with Derek Oaks, an author, keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and former fighter pilot and commander in the United States Air Force, about confident leadership and how to lead people effectively.

Colonel Derek Oaks owns Decisive Leadership LLC, which provides executive consulting, Department of Defense expertise, and keynote speeches and workshops, and has also worked with numerous small businesses as an owner, consultant, COO, Director and Subject Matter Expert. His Air Force career culminated as the Commander, 23rd Fighter Group, which included two fighter squadrons, an operational support squadron, a range squadron, two airfields, and the largest Air-to-Ground Training Range East of the Mississippi River.

During the conversation, Jessica and Derek discussed leaders’ responsibility to set a vision for their teams to drive progress. Derek explained that leaders need to sit back, set the vision, and then communicate it to their teams. Says Derek, “Get the team on board with where you want to go and then empower them with that vision. Give them a chunk [of the vision], make them responsible for it, and don’t get in their way.”

Highlights from the conversation include:

☑️ Why casting a vision is a critical component of being a strong leader and setting teams up for success in organizational change

☑️ The leadership impact of teaching and transferring knowledge, and then getting out of the way to let people apply and utilize the knowledge themselves

☑️ Why understanding individuals’ visions can create a foundation for teams to succeed, which helps them better navigate change and disruption

If you want to learn more about confident leadership, be sure to tune in and hear what Derek has to say!