And then I just kept trying to improve on. But for JB and I, the shit goes by quickly, right? Ranges are presented as a guideline only. They have more to win. Erik Weihenmayer:Or you get internal with yourself and you start making mistakes or something, like how pitchers in pro baseball get in a slump or something. So, you're trying to keep your airplane within a three inch circle on the other airplane. When you get selected for the Blue Angels, you have either a two year tour or a three year tour, and then you know that you will be reassigned to another Navy squadron, and it just won't be the Blue Angels. You know what I mean? What separates the best of the best and makes for elite teams? You've really tapped into it, and I think this is good news for everybody, right? 0 bids. Can you tell yourself, okay, I've got something very challenging to do. It's hard to even remember exactly what happened, but in kayaking over 10 or 12 years, now and then, I would feel time slow down, and I could actually focus on my heartbeat. As a Blue Angel, John consistently performed in an extreme, high-stakes environment, flying at speeds of more than 500 miles per hour in formations as close as 18 inches apart. We're all playing our guitar. We're going to cross within a wingspan, right? Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing, This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. Then I actually went to another challenging field, which was flying jets off aircraft carriers in a leadership role again. John Foley:Sometimes that bar is raised by weather. My manager, Skyler, was always like, "Dude, the audience would've never known. I don't mind that. Well, I got to go here because it's just a thought that's on my mind. What's the pluses? Antique James Kent "Old Foley" Blue/White Staffordshire Pitcher, England. All Rights Reserved BNP Media. I mean, clearly, you know what I want to do, I want to sit around a campfire with you and sip on just a little snifter of some good bourbon sometime. Half the pilots are new every year. You are not going in the midway." Jeff:All right. It's important to know, it's easy to kill yourself. Let's make it real. That's the way you find that flow. My hope is that those four words will have a deeper and richer meaning to everyone who reads this article. It's what Shakespeare was talking about when he says, to be or not to be. Erik Weihenmayer:John, you guys were talking about these parameters, but how big of a can you make? and cookie policy to learn more about the cookies we use and how we use your It's the mental side and the emotional side, probably is, you'll have to tell me, but in flying and with the blues, I like to say you needed to connect the heart and the head because it wasn't enough to be just in your head. John Foley:A couple of things. Stop. There's, could be hundreds of thousands of people, you're waving to the kids. I'm going to actually have a voice command and I'll actually move. Even if it's the transcendent meditative place, but that's the pocket, right? Erik Weihenmayer:I've had a few perfect runs, but a lot of them are just reacting and responding to chaos. To survive in those circumstances he relied on a culture of high trust, leadership and teamwork. I think it's a blessing to have parents, and my mom too, in a different way, but they taught me integrity, and just trying stuff, not to be afraid to fail. Hey Jeff, thanks for joining me as a co-host, and John, this is so exciting to have you. There's the transcendence of that. Yeah, and let me tell you the story, is my dad was an army officer and he took me to an air show when I was 12-years-old. We've become good friends. Learn more about glad to be here foundation. They are one of the largest one percenter motorcycle clubs in the United Kingdom. Business people, we don't necessarily know. I mean, when you're flying 18 inches from a 22 ton jet at 500 miles per hour, you got to be focused. Erik Weihenmayer:How do you elevate people's belief levels? If I'm complacent, that's what I got to worry about. When you were going through that process, John's like 12 years old and he's committed, I'm going to be a pilot, and all Now you're going to be the best pilot, you're going to be this best pilot. I was so inspired from his . I'm so glad there's such a similarity here, and that's why I've been looking forward to talking with you is we've never flown a perfect air show. High performance teams, how to turn them into business results. I'm not. We have a debrief. To be present with you guys right now. I'm so glad that we could share, and that you guys, your community, your audience is so powerful, and they've got stories that are way more powerful than ours when it comes to overcoming adversity and making a difference, and that's what I want to acknowledge, is that everybody has a great story. Think about it in your own life. I liked it. It was some of those things that you talk about. But I would say first off, Erik, we were making tons of mistakes flying. In 1997 he started working at Citysearch, an online city guide later bought by Ticketmaster. It comes with practice and it comes with the awareness. But my whole point is that I fell into what I do now, which is I went to a seminar on personal growth, and I'm always trying to improve myself. Jeff:And I guess, just like so many of us, you've evolved into the new Gucci, the different Gucci that I really think the world benefits from having you. I didn't realize what I realize now, how powerful that really was. No Barriers is a registered 501(c)3 Non-Profit Guidestar Platinum Rating Print page You know what I mean? Like, oh man, you got to get your act together. John Foley:Yeah. Erik Weihenmayer:Yeah. It goes, woo. Like, glad to be here. It's moving away from you. Glad To Be Hereis a mindset that enables higher performance. I feel like when I'm in the middle of a code, I pull my heart away. John Foley:Thumper and I, two opposing solos. Then the other thing that occurs to me is, as I've taken the deeper dive on the Gucci platform, is this other little side note that I wouldn't have guessed. I could read up on it. The Blue Angels have the unique ability to highlight the importance of naval aviation while honoring its historical significance. Now I feel a lot closer to you. To me, those can be fear based, they can hold you back, as compared to just saying, I'm going to try this, I'm going to be smart about it, but I'm going to try it. I climb out of the jet. Because you can't do the middle part without the pre and the post, right? That's not good. You can't do it forever. I've taught myself to block out distractions. Whichever podcast platform you enjoy, were already there. So, you can decide if you're going to step up or not. John Foley is a former lead solo pilot of the Blue Angels, a Sloan Fellow at the Stanford School of Business, and an expert in the how of High Performance teams. I appreciate you, my friend. I still remember this to this day as we're talking, I can visualize it. I had an entrepreneurial company, and the first one blew up. Anyway, got talked into doing recitals, and it is so funny because I get so freaking nervous in front of a group of 50 parents, and I'm surrounded by like sixth graders. Blue Angels 2023 air show schedule. John Foley:It's actually really cool because the ECS, the environmental control system, it almost feels like a vacuum. John. So, we're constantly in a state of hiring. Jeff:Yeah, or you say, I'm not good enough. You get better and you move on and you share that information with somebody else. Erik Weihenmayer:Yeah, so what Analyze me here. I remember that. I think the challenge tonight is that Georgia got their asses handed to them by Alabama, right? As a thought leader on high performance, John created the "Glad To Be Here" Mindset Methodology and the Diamond Performance Framework. 0:00. Like, they take you under their wing and they say And you're expressing gratitude, and because of that, they want to work with you more, right? I'll get back there, if I'm still alive, I'll sign some autographs. Scared to me means I'm aware, I'm present. We brief every Monday mornings on the week and stuff. Then the environment, I think what's critical about flow states is the higher you challenge yourself, you increase the environment, and you guys have to tell me if this is true in climbing, but it isn't flying, is one of two things are going to happen. Never will because of the nuances in it. It can mean so many different things depending on who you ask and what day of the week it is. When people are deeply engaged in their work and feel valued, they are more productive and effective, leading to a positive impact on the bottom-line. Like, I was thinking about the folks that work for Apple or something, and they invent the iPhone, and Steve Jobs is hard as hell on this team. That was always my dream as a little boy. Either you step up to that challenge, okay? Employee Commitment Didrik Johnck:The production team behind this podcast includes producer, Didrik Johnck, that's me, sound design, editing, and mixing by Tyler Cottman, marketing and graphic support from Stone Ward, and web support by Jamlo. The significance of these events were not lost on the Blue Angels Lead Solo Pilot, John Gucci Foley, who joins this episode of Blue Angel Phantoms to share insights and behind the scenes stories from that now famous 92 European tour, as well as his naval career that spanned 17 years and saw him ascend to the rank of Commander. No one has to teach you how to visualize. John Foley:Once you finish this, you actually are going to deploy. Is that what I think the states that we got into, no one taught me how to visualize. And it's different. As lead solo pilot of the heralded Blue Angels, keynote speaker John Foley had to consistently perform as part of team in an intense, high-stakes environment. One of the things I do as a hobbyist is that I play a guitar. We've acquired all these things, and now we want to give it to you, and to you, and to you to be a better version of yourself. Jeff:Yeah. $19.50. 14K views, 488 likes, 72 loves, 29 comments, 149 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Blue Angels Association: John Foley, #5, USN (Ret.) Jeff:I think you're right. Peloton founder John Foley stepped down from his CEO role on Feb. 8 following a tumultuous period for the connected fitness company. Here's the difference. It was an emotional click that said, I'm going to do that now. I have been training. That's a good question, because I was thinking about that in a similar way, but a little bit differently. He also explains a process that he believes is the primary key to continuous improvement and exceptional growth. Does the gratitude negate that or overtake that in some way? He's working with us now. These fundamentals are incredibly important because that's what we all learn from, we got to have a process, but I think the difference when you're talking to somebody who's actually done it and done it at a high level. It's not straight and leveled. Now I'm getting more scared, and the brain's talking to you, right? Yes, there's process, there's procedures. I know they are by two points. The Blue Angels, I'm going to talk to you about debrief, how we did it on the Blues, it's slightly different than how I did it on my fighter squadrons or how they do it in Top Gun. Let's take that even to the next step for somebody who's perhaps not a climber or an aspiring pilot or an athlete, or in any way, but is someone who gets up, puts their pants on, brushes their teeth, and goes, and knuckles down at work for a 10 hour shift. Jeff:Yeah. John Foley:I'm just going to reinforce that in my body. So, it's that front end and maybe the backend, the pre and the post is where the heart really truly has to exist. I take a break. He did a couple tours in Vietnam. Block out your own mind. Part of the equation is diving into the learning process and trying to illuminate the universal elements that exist along the way. John Foley:But yeah, so that's for sure. There's a moment that crystallized for you like that? When you call them out, because you did all that front load work of, I really care about you, you're my colleague and I love you, how do you do that effectively when you call someone you out and say, "You screwed up," but without doing it in a threatening way? Like me, I'm going to be thinking of you guys' faces, I'm going to be thinking about this conversation. Jeff:Like what? For my life, very quickly, is on the teams, on the Blue Angels, you go into that assignment knowing exactly how long you're going to be there. Now everybody and their dead grandma can. I mean, there are people who can teach breathing and meditation effectively, that have been doing it for years and years. John Foley:I know how to do that. Jeff:Yeah, or kayaking, right? What does it look like in this environment? The departure of Foley, who led the company since its. 01:18:45. I think that's a rare combination. And you just go, okay, I'm in the zone. But you're exactly right, that's exactly the zone I'm in when I'm in a maneuver. Jeff:Wait, are you rolling & talking tonight? John Foley:I like to put a nuance in there, Erik, and that's about being scared. I think the first thing, Erik, that I've learned over time is I like to say there's two beliefs. I do that through meditation in the mornings. John Foley:At some point, you become a Blue Angel, and we take our pilots from the instructor ranks. We started with this, what I call general safe. I actually think most of my flying was emotional. You didn't get it for all you know. Keep going. This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to Then you start dog fighting. The foundation of elite performance is the . I think, when I joined the team, and at the end of your comments, everybody said, "Glad to be here." I'm going to send you out tomorrow night and you better show me something. I used a trigger. help you have the best experience while on the site. Glad To Be Here Debrief Program - Digital Book. John Foley:Well, I was the second one. And then reverse engineer, what are you thinking about? He shares how to center a team around shared goals, strengthen relationships, and create unity that leads to consistent and effective results. I'm not good enough. You've ascended to this high level, the highest level. See, that's more important to me because I want to know if they're aware. Erik and I are like old aged salty mountain guys. I think that's when you know you're in the zone, but here's the other thing, the minute you start realizing that, you're now losing focus, right? Did that answer your question? Then what I do in the morning, Erik, is I do what I call my glad to be here wake up. Maybe it's a deliverable on work. Our audience, our community is going to be so impacted by everything you've said, and your life's work, as it's been encompassed in this conversation today. They're going to be off. So, yes, I think that's the glad to be here. There must be a lot of things like that, that you've really tried to take with you from being a Blue Angel. Even the, if you've ever seen a briefing of the Blue Angels, the boss's tone of his voice is exactly what we're going to experience together. But since then, yeah, I had a lot of inadvertent mentors. "Blue Angels are Navy fighter pilots. John Foley:To be, in my opinion, is the future state. John Foley:No, no. John Foley:Okay. I go Mo, what did you see? Just what we're doing right here. I think about the aging process a lot now, because I'm all aging, but you don't think about that when you're in your 20s and 30s. Well, so, how do you teach that though? That's the crowd part. What we're talking about, I don't think you can learn from a book. You're just trying to survive the airplane. But what's surprising to me is you say the first thing on your debrief is you come at each other with something you feel. Because I'd love to swap some stories with you. Play Audio. It's really about overcoming the mental side of the equation. Jeff:I know. I know I need to execute on this command. They don't know when their last game's going to be. Erik Weihenmayer:And what's an example of a fear-based belief that maybe you have had that you had to struggle with or work through? Or you're going to quit, or you're going to move on to something else. You're on to a really interesting point. Jeff:My cousin wouldn't want to fight you for that one. Erik, I've been following so many stages, and JB, I know both of us. In the SEC. I was supposed to deploy on the midway, which was a four deployed carrier. John Foley:I just said, holy cow, I can do this because it's a value to others. Erik Weihenmayer:Yeah, for sure. John Foley:Yeah. Because there's a lot of pressure out there not to make a mistake. Yeah. March 25 to 26: Barksdale Air Force Base . We're doing a mile every nine seconds. this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and Grounded by his commanding officer and his letter of recommendation revoked, Foley openly shared his lessons learned from the mishap during his interview with the Blue Angels and was selected as the Teams narrator for the 1990 air show season. Now, to answer that gut feeling JB that you asked about. Or, you know what? Then I realized I had the wrong order. I'll do stuff that keeps the adrenaline going, but I'm doing it for fun. Jeff:I'm just, I'm trying to get my head around that though, because in a way, I think maybe we frame things up to see its either clinical precision or its emotion love, and sort of heart. We proudly represent the heritage, agility, flexibility, and. I just said, I bet you, I could be decent, but do I have the natural skills to be a musician? You're just trying to do the checklist. B, that it's out of parameters, so you get to decide as an organization what's in parameters and what's out. So, landing jets on aircraft carrier is truly, probably the most challenging thing a pilot can do. Special thanks to The Dan Ryan Band for our intro song, Guidance. Heck, there's a ton of fear out there in our lives all the time. As a Blue Angel, John consistently performed in an extreme, high-stakes environment, flying at speeds of more than 500 miles per hour in formations as close as 18 inches apart. Erik Weihenmayer:Over time, you talk about focus, right? Team Oneness Then we give it away. As we evolve as athletes and precision professionals doing heady shit, that we get to a point where we realize what is my That's the completion of the hero's journey. John Foley:That's basically what he was saying. First, is just being aware, is am I operating from fear? You don't want to take more than a minute. Nick Saban brought me in to speak to Alabama a few years ago, and we won the championship that year, so stand by. John 'Gucci' Foley, the legendary Blue Angel's lead solo pilot, has perfected the art of inspiring and instructing organizations big and small to achieve more using the very practices he learned and mastered with the Blue Angels. Success is a funny word. Thank you, Gucci, man. Ending Tuesday at 3:15PM PST 1d 19h. That means you're not in position. John Foley:It's exactly that, but it's not just the coffee, right? I've gotten the chance to ascend Mount Everest, to climb the tallest mountain in every continent, to kayak the Grand Canyon, and I happen to be blind. That's the beautiful part is why we can give back now to so many people. It doesn't John Foley:Erik, I got to a question for you. 192 Listens. I think those of us who've been deep in that pocket before, it just becomes this thing that we kind of have to feel it. Let's continue to help others, serve others with that. I constantly want to learn, and I don't want to beat myself up in the learning. Well, I was going to ask, speaking, I mean, you and I are both out there, and Jeff too, at the highest levels. It's something that defines who you are and your impact in the world. I want to go into the entrepreneurial world. Maybe he didn't understand he was out of parameter, right? I had trained my own replacement, Thumper, and he was better than I ever was. I love it because I'm in front of groups all the time blah, blah, blah. You have to be amazing. I'm okay with being scared. To answer your question, from the ground, we've had spectators, they go, "Looks like you guys aren't even moving." The bottom line is I knew how it worked, I knew how to do it, but I didn't know why it worked now. I remember my daytime went well. The cool part is, what you were just talking about, JB, is I think by going through that discipline way of learning and then being successful at it and not being successful, learning from your failures and then going back in, it's all resiliency. The point is, I want to know just your general feeling. He demonstrates how learning to focus prepares individuals for action and increases successful outcomes. In one way, it's kind of nice. But the point is that-. Then here's the last thing, and I'll do this for any leader is go, or anybody really, go forward in your day, and I use my calendar, but think about others, not just yourself, and think about, how can I show up in a way that helps somebody else. John consistently performed in an extreme, high-stakes environment, flying at speeds of more than 500 miles per The eye can't see that, but as you're learning, you're moving a lot. John Foley:No, it's great. It's like, oh, that would be cool, but geez, that's a pipe dream. See, that's why this is what's Great. Glad To Be Here is a mindset that enables higher performance. What is your preparation? To me, limiting beliefs are fear based. Those are much more take the who out of it, be very of what happened, where were the decision points? But I spent six months working for three for that individual learning the business. . Now I'm understanding. We actually can only focus on one thing at one time, but because it's like a movie, you have different frames, we're seeing things in frames. When you're riding your motorcycle or when you're dropping in on a steep cliff, that's the pocket. I just want to do something that's personal. And you're welcome. I come down, I get waved off. However, after receiving his Wings of Gold in 1984, and in alignment with the needs of the Navy, Foley would initially be assigned to Attack Squadron 22 (VA-22) flying the A-7 Corsair II. You know what the biggest one, Erik? I think I was looking at it as a bigger timeframe. Because I'm not trying to teach people to be a Blue Angel pilot. I remember, I had to think that night had to do some self-reflection and not get overwhelmed, and just realize, you know what? I'm in my jet training, it's called A-7 Corsairs. I mean, that would be the obvious sort of reach on that. - John Foley, Blue Angels. Erik Weihenmayer:Yeah. Audiences discover how to inspire success, create commitment, align teams toward a common goal and build unprecedented levels of trust. John Foley -Blue Angel. Erik Weihenmayer:You thunk yourself out of it. Right. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to subscribe to it, share it, and give us a review. What was that like for you? Because they probably know it anyhow. In fact, by the way, the College Football Championship's tonight. It's not just physical, right? John Foley:No, 100%. It's been a struggle to live what I call a no barriers life, to define it, to push the parameters of what it means. Jeff:Okay. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. John Foley is a former lead solo pilot of the Blue Angels, Sloan Fellow at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, leadership expert, speaker and Gratitude Guru. I had a team briefing this morning. John Foley draws upon his experience as Lead Solo of the Blue Angels to inspire audiences and show them how to achieve substantially higher levels of performance. During 1992 season, the Blue Angels traveled to Europe for the first time since 1973 to perform 16 air shows in 8 different countries including Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, England, Spain, Italy, Finland and Sweden. Even like right now, as we're talking, am I thinking about, well, when is this over? I think about you guys, when you decided, I want to climb, something clicked in my heart. And then what happens? That you were appreciative of or that you enjoyed. This is what it was, everybody, we ran around the table, and it started with the boss. No kidding, 300%. I think that's so critical. Jeff:How would you, I guess, connect with that person on the benefits of finding that pocket and that flow and then how it could affect them or impact them greatly with their whole environment that they operate in? Scared to me means I'm aware, I'm present. Is that part of the process of being focused? As if it happened yesterday, Foley fondly reflects on a flight he gave to his Russian counterpart that rendered his new comrade unconscious during a demonstration of high performance capabilities of the F/A-18 Hornet. John Foley:I remember it was something just clicked. So, they allow you more time, and then you just start, just like you, you just keep upping the game, where now you start flying jets, then you start flying faster jets. I think that Georgia has the advantage. The Blue Angels Motorcycle Club are a one percenter motorcycle club founded in Glasgow, Scotland in 1963.. Jeff:The difference though is 10,000 hours. I think that's it in a nutshell, right there. John Foley:Just brought tears to my eyes. I feel grateful and a lot of pride for the men and women who are doing that. You kayaked the Grand Canyon, you needed perfection. All that's inside your brain. I've spoken to all three, both teams and the officials. Jeff:That's sweet of you to talk about me like that, bro. We all know the science behind appreciation and gratitude, how it changes the way your brain thinks, the neurons fire and all that. You do, in a way, you have to, I don't know, maybe you have to suspend the gushy parts because you've done all that hard work. Our first conversation of this new year is with a former Navy jet pilot, an 18 year journey that began after a visit to an air show as a young boy, piqued when he was selected to join the Elite Blue Angels Squadron. To me, that's a feeling statement. Through their interdependence as a team, members are also challenged and stimulated to achieve higher levels of individual performance. As a Blue Angel, John consistently performed in an extreme, high-stakes environment, flying at speeds of more than 500 miles per hour in formations as close as 18 inches apart.