Military Leader to Corporate Leader – Bryan Blew
One of the best parts of being with Bradley-Morris for 11 years is the success stories. Bryan Blew is a star. I had the pleasure of placing Bryan as he transitioned. Enjoy his story, in his words:
“I trace my professional, private sector success directly back to my time at the United States Air Force Academy. My experiences at USAFA provided the foundations for leadership and management I still rely on to lead my $17M/year oilfield services company, Horizon Well Logging, LLC.
It was as an Air Force football team captain where I truly learned the meaning of teamwork and the value of each player, whether starter or backup. After that, it was as Cadet Group Commander I learned how to manage a staff and subordinate managers, while empowering them to lead at their respective levels in the organization. These two experiences, among many others at USAFA, taught me the significance of communicating vision, while also using core values to motivate others and create the desired team culture.
After graduation from USAFA (but before my unexpectedly early discharge in the Air Force’s reduction of 2006), I attended Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government where I learned how to think about, plan for, and act upon large-scale issues.
In my post-Air Force life, my first professional experience was in project management for a global engineering and fabrication company. Through my work there, my family and I enjoyed a fantastic opportunity to live in Shanghai, China. While there, I was promoted to Director of Projects for one of the product lines, and in this capacity I had a group of 30 people (project managers, coordinators, engineers, and designers) reporting to me. Our group was responsible for the global execution of approximately $40M worth of projects each year.
I came to my current job at the beginning of 2012 and immediately put the following core values in place: Integrity First, Positive Attitude, Professionalism, Personal Responsibility, and Performance. These core values have helped us maintain focus during a time of transition in our company, and they have allowed us to create and strengthen our company’s new culture. Furthermore, these core values have created the foundation we needed to put our long-term vision of sustainable, strategic growth into action.
I’ve had the opportunity to hire many former military personnel, and almost without exception they have been very hard-working, incredibly trustworthy, and extremely professional. Whether it’s via an Academy, ROTC, or enlistment, I have no doubt our shared military experiences make us better employees and leaders in the private sector.”
Bryan is available to speak on leadership and strategy.