How it started: How it’s going:

𝗛𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 watched the Challenger explode on live TV when she was 11 years old. Most kids looked away. She leaned in and spent her career making spaceflight safer. She later became NASA’s 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗙𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿. #NASA

Full episode here → https://t.co/nONB9wmhG7 #NASA #Leadership #MissionCritical #Toughness #HighPerformance

These aren’t just stories. They’re blueprints for anyone in leadership. In high-pressure roles, the mistake isn’t failure. It’s staying quiet.

Preston shares the moment 100 wildland firefighters silently admitted they’d all been first on scene at a fatality. No one had ever asked. No one had ever talked about it.

Holly tells the story of a mission where a spacesuit malfunctioned mid-spacewalk. She thought she had trained for everything. She hadn’t. The lesson? You’ll never know it all… but your team might.

In this episode, I sat down with Holly Ridings @Viking_Flight (NASA’s first female Chief Flight Director) and Dr. Preston Cline (founder of the Mission Critical Teams Institute). We talked about mistakes, mindset, and leading under pressure.

What does NASA Flight Control have in common with wildland firefighters and Navy SEALs? A lot more than you’d think.👇

NFL Performance Director Dr. Erik Korem (@ErikKorem) says the best athletes don’t wait for answers. They find the weakness. They fix it. They move quickly.

Most people feel pressure and shut down. Veronica Campbell Brown (8x Olympic medalist) says she felt it and ran harder.

8 Olympic medals. Hundreds of races. But Veronica Campbell Brown (@VCampbellBrown) says it still comes down to seconds. #Focus #HighPerformance #VeronicaCampbellBrown

She won Olympic gold… then lost the next big race. @VCampbellBrown (8x Olympic medalist) shares why you can’t afford to coast after a win.

Olympic Champion Veronica Campbell Brown (@VCampbellBrown) on the mindset that turns pressure into progress. #Toughness #MentalPerformance #VeronicaCampbellBrown

Full episode here → https://t.co/1rUZe9jpAr #Toughness #Olympics #TrackAndField #MentalToughness

If you've ever felt like you're fighting for a goal that seems miles away, this one hits deep.

In this episode, Veronica and her long-time coach, Dr. @ErikKorem (𝗡𝗙𝗟 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿), break down the mindset of a champion: 🞄 Turning setbacks into fuel. 🞄 The secret to staying on top once you reach your goal. 🞄 Why the world's best athletes

That raw determination - or “𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁” 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘁 - delivered 𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗢𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗰 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹𝘀 and cemented her in history as only the second woman to win back-to-back Olympic 200m golds.

She didn't have a gym or a track. She had a need to get out of poverty, and a desire to be the fastest. She started challenging and beating older boys in community races. "It became a community entertainment".

Exhaustion doesn’t just make you tired. It erodes awareness, communication, and decision-making — the three skills every leader relies on most.

Leadership doesn’t crush you because of expectations. It’s heavy because you care. Cody Royle calls this 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘞𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵: the invisible burden leaders carry when people’s lives and livelihoods depend on them. #Leadership #Toughness #PerformanceUnderPressure

The job title changes everything. Dan Quinn on what it 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 feels like when every staff member’s livelihood depends on you.