Operating at the Speed of Relevance

We now live in a world exploding with innovation and technological growth. It operates at the speed of thought, communicates at the speed of light, and requires businesses to constantly evolve to meet their changing needs. Leaders must learn to solve immediate challenges; identify the root causes for problems, course correct, and anticipate their future needs.

Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond learned to “adapt or die'' on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, leading multiple combat commands. He then applied these innovative skills to his work in healthcare by developing innovative solutions for complex mental health and brain injury care and establishing the nation’s premier center of excellence for Veteran mental health and brain injury. Hammond will draw upon these experiences to provide your audience with specific examples of game-changing innovation developed by his teams and walk you through an easy-to-follow and a common sense 3-step process for innovation that can be applied to any situation or circumstance. This endemic period of change and instability requires successful businesses to “Operate at the Speed of Relevance.” This presentation will inspire your team to embrace change by recognizing the opportunities it presents, and shift to a mindset focused on excellence over perfection.

Challenges to Change and Uncertainty

Having survived several rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun ambushes while performing daily patrols and raids in Fallujah, Iraq, Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond learned to regain control of his operational space through innovation and intelligence-fused decisions, plans, and operations. This allowed him to transition from reacting or responding to his enemies' actions and then placing them on the defensive.

If your current operating conditions don’t support your strategic vision, you must flip the dial and change the paradigm. If there is a void in your business space, you must fill it before your competitors do. In this presentation, Hammond will share with you the fear-based responses that are triggered in your lizard brain, and discuss the processes required to overcome this fear of uncertainty and change. This will enable you to flip the dial and plan your operations, rather than be planned upon by circumstances or other entities.

People are the Center of Gravity for Your Success

Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond has extensive experience leading and managing a range of crises; on the battlefield, during natural disasters, and through the pandemic. Military leaders are trained to respond to crises and are all too often called upon to implement these skills. Hammond will discuss these experiences, the lessons learned, and how to apply the insights gained from his experiences to the challenges you face today.

In the Spring of 2003, Hammond responded to a revolt in the Sunni Triangle city of Balad, Iraq, where the Governor of Tikrit and four American Soldiers were taken hostage. Hammond was called upon to regain control of the city and secure the release of the hostages. He was later called upon to develop a weapons of mass destruction response plan for soldiers who had encountered captured mustard gas shells in Iraq. After returning to the U.S., Jack deployed to New Orleans to coordinate a 500-person force to support the Hurricane Katrina response efforts. In 2011 Hammond coordinated security and response operations to an 18-hour attack on the US embassy, NATO/ISAF HQs, and several other sites in Kabul, AFG. One month later, his Task Force responded to a mass casualty suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 18 US Troops and Afghan people. Most recently, Hammond was called upon by the Governor of Massachusetts to build a team and construct a 1,000-bed covid field hospital at the height of the coronavirus pandemic during the Spring of 2020. Boston Hope was constructed and operational within seven days and cared for more than 700 COVID patients over a three-month period without losing a single patient.

The key to managing a crisis is to bring order to chaos. Hammond will discuss the “3-Phases of a Crisis and Crisis Response.” He will share his compelling leadership experiences and provide actionable guidance regarding the role of intelligence-fused planning, operations, and decisions, as well as the critical need to build a capabilities-based team with decentralized leadership.

5 Rules for High-Performance Leadership During Extraordinary Times

In this rapidly changing and unstable world Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond provides audiences with proven strategies for effective and innovative leadership, based on four decades of experiences which extend from War Zones to Board Rooms. Hammond will share the lessons he learned through a range of complex combat operations in the world’s most dangerous places and how they are applied to his work as a chief executive in the trillion-dollar healthcare industry, growing his organization and responding to the challenges of the pandemic. Hammond will capture the audience's attention with relatable stories and experiences that resonate and share key leadership principles and actionable steps that will enable you to set the conditions for the future success of your business - during this extended period of change and instability. To ensure that this discussion adds value to your organization, Hammond will tailor his messaging to meet your group's specific needs.

Get One Day Better, Every Day!

When it comes to personal growth or organizational performance, far too many people are looking for a quick fix that will transform their lives overnight. Based on his experiences, work with world leaders in rehabilitation medicine, and observations of people who have overcome significant adversity, Jack will share a strategy focused on getting Get One Day Better, Every Day! If you can improve your efforts by 1% each day, you will have grown by 365% at the end of the year. Life and business can be difficult, and you can quickly become distracted. Our most elite military organizations will tell you to limit your celebrations for your victories and pity parties to 5 minutes and then get back to the task at hand. Preparation, optimism, and hard work = Success!

Never give up is a lesson Hammond learned from Medal of Honor recipients like Master Sergeant Roy Benevides, people with chronic illnesses and rare diseases, and many others who have faced and overcome significant challenges. Hammond will share with you his belief that optimism and a positive attitude will strengthen you to continue when things get tough and others choose to give up. He will provide your audience with inspirational stories where positive attitudes and committed efforts had driven success when conventional thinking predicted failure.

Go Big or Go Home!

Status quo is a previous leader’s solution to a prior problem, and no true leader wants to become a caretaker. Throughout his career in the military and private sector Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond has always opted to embrace the innovation required to take on significant challenges. Jack developed intelligence fused counter-terrorist operations in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2003, and then built upon this strategy by creating the first operations and intelligence fusion center for Kabul Province during one of the most dangerous periods in the war - responding to an 18-hour attack on the US Embassy, and then a mass-casualty suicide bombing attack in 2011. In his post-military career, Hammond went on to build the nation’s first private sector national center of excellence for mental health and brain injury for our warriors, and then a 1,000 bed covid field hospital at the height of the pandemic surge.

During periods of significant change and instability, you will have the opportunity to reimagine the future of your industry, if you can walk and chew gum. While most leaders choose to hunker down and “see how things unfold,” the best leaders will both manage their risks and boldly pursue strategies to reinvent their future. To accomplish this task, you must make intelligence-fused decisions and plans, act decisively, and rapidly implement your plan before your competitors. Hammond will share his battle-tested insights and strategies to drive “Big Change” through intelligence-fused planning and decision-making.

Crisis Leadership and Management

Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond has extensive experience leading and managing a range of crises; on the battlefield, during natural disasters, and through the pandemic. Military leaders are trained to respond to crises and are all too often called upon to implement these skills. Hammond will discuss these experiences, the lessons learned, and how to apply the insights gained from his experiences to the challenges you face today.

In the Spring of 2003, Hammond responded to a revolt in the Sunni Triangle city of Balad, Iraq, where the Governor of Tikrit and four American Soldiers were taken hostage. Hammond was called upon to regain control of the city and secure the release of the hostages. He was later called upon to develop a weapons of mass destruction response plan for soldiers who had encountered captured mustard gas shells in Iraq. After returning to the U.S., Jack deployed to New Orleans to coordinate a 500-person force to support the Hurricane Katrina response efforts. In 2011 Hammond coordinated security and response operations to an 18-hour attack on the US embassy, NATO/ISAF HQs, and several other sites in Kabul, AFG. One month later, his Task Force responded to a mass casualty suicide bombing that claimed the lives of 18 US Troops and Afghan people. Most recently, Hammond was called upon by the Governor of Massachusetts to build a team and construct a 1,000-bed covid field hospital at the height of the coronavirus pandemic during the Spring of 2020. Boston Hope was constructed and operational within seven days and cared for more than 700 COVID patients over a three-month period without losing a single patient.

The key to managing a crisis is to bring order to chaos. Hammond will discuss the “3-Phases of a Crisis and Crisis Response.” He will share his compelling leadership experiences and provide actionable guidance regarding the role of intelligence-fused planning, operations, and decisions, as well as the critical need to build a capabilities-based team with decentralized leadership

Optimism Promotes Success and Good Luck

Optimists know they will succeed and often overcome great odds to accomplish their goals - even when they lack critical resources. Through sheer confidence and will, they create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Pessimists, on the other hand, make the worst innovators in the world as they will look towards failure and then prove themselves right!

Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond has four decades of experience leading small and large organizations during difficult and complex times. During this time, he worked with incredible heroes from every walk of life and learned the value of optimism for himself, his teams, and their organizations. The military describes optimism as a combat multiplier, which enhances the likelihood of success for any mission. Jack will share with you his belief that you can create good luck through optimism. If you believe in yourself and the fact that something can be done, you will find a way to make it happen! Pessimists focus their energy on the potential for failure and damage control efforts, which blocks their creativity and success. Because an optimist knows that they will succeed and are open to alternative solutions, they are far more likely to see and implement opportunities that others miss - thereby fulfilling the prophecy of success.

Cyber Security for Dummies… or CEO’s

After returning from Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 2000s, Brigadier General (Retired) Jack Hammond served on a Homeland Security Advisory Council that prepared and planned for catastrophic man-made incidents and natural disasters. Hammond will confide that during this process, the group developed detailed response plans and preparations for each contingency but two - Cyber Attacks and Pandemics. Very few people understood our cyber threats, and when it came to a pandemic, there was a general belief that we would quickly become overwhelmed. Because it was felt that we were woefully ill-prepared to prevent or respond to either, both contingencies were placed on the sideline for future study and consideration… and we all know how that has turned out.

Hammond is an expert in security and response planning, having completed advanced training with the military, Harvard University, and our Israeli and NATO allies. He will share with you his three critical insights on cyber security. First, there is no difference between cyber and any other form of security; it requires different tools. Second, “Any system can be breached!” your company cannot outspend the governments of Russia, China, North Korea, and some of our “Friends.” All you can do is make it as difficult as possible for the attacker by mitigating your risk and exposure to the most significant degree possible. Third, when you are breached - you must respond as quickly as you by making the appropriate notifications and taking the required legal, moral, and ethical actions.

Hammond will provide senior executives and CEOs with a clear and easy-to-understand discussion on the threat and how to ask the right questions to the right people in your organization. Then he will highlight your fiduciary responsibilities and the actions you must take before-during-and after a cyber-attack.