Founder and President of Leadership Freedom LLC and FreedomStar Media / Air Force figher pilot
Request More Info
Add To My List
Featured Topics
- Team Building Leadership Entrepreneurs
- Overcoming Adversity Business Ethics Conflict Management Motivational Speakers Business
Fee Range
Please contact us for pricing
Travels From
Atlanta, GA, United States
Lee Ellis
BiographyColonel Leon "Lee" Ellis, USAF (Ret)
Military Biography
A native of Commerce, Georgia, Colonel Lee Ellis graduated from the University of Georgia in 1965 as a Distinguished Graduate of Air Force ROTC. He received his pilot wings in August 1966 at Moody AFB, GA and was assigned to fly the F-4C Phantom fighter-bomber. In 1967 Colonel Ellis was assigned to Danang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, where he flew 68 combat missions with 53 over North Vietnam. On November 7, 1967 he was shot down, captured and held as a prisoner of war for more than five years.
After repatriation in March 1973 he returned to flying duties with increasing positions of leadership. His assignments included duty as a T-38 instructor pilot, flight commander and section commander at Moody AFB GA and Randolph AFB TX, (560 FTS). At Randolph AFB, he also served as chief of flight standardization and evaluation (12th FTW), ATC staff officer, and flying squadron commander of the 560th FTS. After graduating from the Air War College in 1983, he served as Vice-Commandant Squadron Officer School (SOS) and Commander AFROTC Det. 160 (PAS) at the Univ. of Georgia. He retired as a USAF Colonel on February 1, 1990 completing 25 years or service.
Colonel Ellis is a command pilot whose decorations include the Silver Star with one Oak Leaf Cluster; the Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster; the Bronze Star with Valor Device; the Meritorious Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters; the Purple Heart; the Air Medal with eight Oak Leaf Clusters; and the Prisoner of War Medal. Lee is also a 2014 inductee into the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame and the 2015 DAR Medal of Honor Recipient for a lifetime of patriotic service as a military officer and spokesman for leading with honor.
Colonel Ellis is founder and President of Leadership Freedom LLC, serving for more than fifteen years as a nationally-recognized leadership consultant, author, and expert presenter. He has authored or co- authored three books and two workbooks on leadership and career development. His latest book is entitled Engage with Honor: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability. His last award-winning book, Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton has won book-of-the-year awards and was selected in 2013 for the USAF Chief of Staff Professional Reading List. Colonel Ellis and his wife Mary reside in the Atlanta GA area and have four grown children and six grandchildren.
Post-Military Accomplishments
RESEARCHER/DEVELOPER
As the Director of Career/Life Pathways from 1990 - 1998, Lee led the development team that researched, developed, and validated Career Direct , a vocational assessment package and two personality assessments with software applications. From 1998 - 2008, he was responsible for product development of three more behavioral and leadership assessments as well as the launch and Internet deployment of these resources. Most recently, he has developed and released his latest assessment tool, the Leadership Behavior DNATM Discovery Process (formerly N8Traits Profile). In total, these assessments have been used by more than 200,000 individuals and are the instrument of choice in many organizations, including Fortune 500 companies and nationally recognized not-for-profits. Lee's point-of-view on maximizing leadership performance and organizational leadership during crisis is framed by his extensive research and experience in the assessment of human behavior.
AUTHOR/SPEAKER
A prolific writer, blogger and thought leader, Lee's latest award-winning book is entitled Engage with HonorTM: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability. His last award-winning book, Leading with Honor : Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton, shares his POW experience and the 14 leadership principles that helped him and his compatriots resist, survive, and return with honor. His previous book, Leading Talents, Leading Teams, was published by Northfield Publishing and shares in-depth team concepts on how to lead and manage based on individual, innate gifts and talents. Additionally, Lee co- authored three books and workbooks on career planning. He is a nationally-recognized Certified Speaking Professional* (CSP) and expert on the subjects of leadership and performance, team building, mentoring, and career planning. Some of his appearances include interviews on networks such as CNN, CBS This Morning, C-SPAN, ABC World News, Fox News Channel, plus hundreds of engagements in various industry sectors throughout the world.
EDUCATOR
Lee holds a B.A. degree in History from the University of Georgia and a M.S. degree in Counseling and Human Development from Troy University in Alabama. He is a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College and the Air War College. Lee supervised, educated, and trained officers for the last 17 years of his Air Force career. He served as the Vice Commandant of the Squadron Officer School, the Air Force's leadership school for captains. He completed his Air Force career as Professor of Aerospace Studies and Commander of Air Force ROTC at the University of Georgia. More recently he has developed and presented leadership curricula in numerous organizations including Fortune 500 companies, focusing on management performance, leadership accountability and principle-based management strategies.
*The Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation involves a rigorous 5-10 year certification process. It is the highest speaking designation in the industry, and only 1.5% of speakers worldwide can claim this special title.
Lee Ellis
Featured VideosCurrent: Speech Clip- InTouch with Dr. Charles Stanley
Time 14:06
More Videos From Lee Ellis
Speech Clip- InTouch with Dr. Charles Stanley
Time 14:06
Radio Clips- Fox News Radio- Kilmeade and Friends
Time 18:55
Radio Clips- The Mike Huckabee Show
Time 09:21
Radio Clips- The Howie Carr Show
Time 45:17
View More Featured Videos
Lee Ellis
Featured Keynote ProgramsLeading with Honor™
Lee shares his story of being captured and held as a POW in Vietnam for over five years and the leadership principles that helped him and his comrades return home with honor.
Using the POW story as a vehicle, Lee adapts his message to the needs of the client/audience. Recurring themes in all of his presentations are courage, character, communications, and knowing yourself to be authentic. Typically, he will highlight two or three of the lessons from the fourteen described in his award-winning book, Leading with Honor: Leadership Lessons from the Hanoi Hilton to fit the client’s desires.
The fourteen lessons/chapters in his book are shown here.
Leading Yourself
•Know Yourself
•Guard Your Character
•Stay Positive
•Confront Your Doubts and Fears
•Fight to Win
•Bounce Back—Be resilient
Leading Others
•Clarify the Culture
•Over-Communicate the Message
•Develop Your People
•Balance Mission and People
•Build Cohesive Teams
•Exploit Creativity
•Treasure Your Trials and Celebrate Your Successes
•Free the Captives
Workshops and Full-Day Programs
Because of Lee’s extensive work as an educator and business owner in human behavior, human performance, and behavioral assessments, he has created several workshop topics to advance the organizational and development initiatives of his clients.
The following topics are available either as individual workshops, half-day, or whole day programs. Each session is specifically customized for the client’s needs, and they can be added as a breakout training event before or after a keynote presentation.
Workshop Topics
Understanding Human Behavior to Lead Self and Others
-Gain an Objective View of Self.
-Leading with Honor using the online Leadership Behavior DNA™ Assessment taken before the event. Review, discuss results, and answer questions.
Results and Relationships
-Understand the issue of leadership balance with staff and patients, and identify your natural tilt toward results or relationships.
-Identify one or two developmental areas to bring you to a better balance.
-Small Group Activity
Understanding and Using Emotional (Social) Intelligence
-Understand the differences in emotional and cognitive responses in healthcare scenarios.
-Understand the power of emotions and their impact on leadership, team dynamics, and patient care.
-Understand the four factor model of emotional intelligence, and how to use it in everyday life.
Effective Teams & Courageous Conflict (Judicious Debate)
-Define Healthy vs. Unhealthy Teams.
-Courageous Conflict - What is it? What does it look like? What is the value of it?
oWhat has been your tendency to engage in Courageous Conflict with colleagues and patients? How can you engage more effectively?
-Small Group Activity
The Leadership Engagement Model
-Understanding the model: Withdraw – Engage – Dominate
oUnderstanding the impact of negative emotions, and power of trust, confidence and positive emotions on leadership.
-Small Group Activity
Accountability – Helping Self and Others Succeed
-A True Definition / Why it’s important / How to do it effectively
-Small Group Activity
Workshop Topics
Understanding Human Behavior to Lead Self and Others
- Gain an Objective View of Self.
- Leading with Honor using the online Leadership Behavior DNA™ Assessment taken before the event. Review, discuss results, and answer questions.
Results and Relationships
- Understand the issue of leadership balance with staff and patients, and identify your natural tilt toward results or relationships.
- Identify one or two developmental areas to bring you to a better balance.
- Small Group Activity
Understanding and Using Emotional (Social) Intelligence
- Understand the differences in emotional and cognitive responses in healthcare scenarios.
- Understand the power of emotions and their impact on leadership, team dynamics, and patient care.
- Understand the four factor model of emotional intelligence, and how to use it in everyday life.
Effective Teams & Courageous Conflict (Judicious Debate)
- Define Healthy vs. Unhealthy Teams.
- Courageous Conflict - What is it? What does it look like? What is the value of it?
oWhat has been your tendency to engage in Courageous Conflict with colleagues and patients? How can you engage more effectively?
- Small Group Activity
The Leadership Engagement Model
- Understanding the model: Withdraw – Engage – Dominate
oUnderstanding the impact of negative emotions, and power of trust, confidence and positive emotions on leadership.
-Small Group Activity
Accountability – Helping Self and Others Succeed
-A True Definition / Why it’s important / How to do it effectively
-Small Group Activity
Lee Ellis
Featured Book
Engage with Honor
by Lee Ellis
Lee Ellis
Featured ReviewAs Col Ellis teaches, he allows the audience sagacious glimpses into his life as a prisoner of war. . . . Col Ellis erupts like a an oil mine gracefully spewing his insightful leadership prowess.
Amy Laree Schmid, Contractor, Yellow Ribbon Program Event Coordinator, Military Personnel Services Corporation
Oregon Air National Guard
Find Similar Speakers Motivational Speakers
How Do You Choose the BEST Speaker for Your Event?
We’ve had 29 years and 35,000 events to perfect the process—and we’ll do it for free.
Let Us Do The Hard Work
