Rick Searfoss

Biography

As one of less than a hundred people ever who have actually ever commanded a human space mission, Colonel Rick Searfoss speaks on leadership, teamwork, and personal performance with authority born of in-depth personal experience. He has piloted two Space Shuttle missions and commanded a third, with over 939 hours in space and 5400 hours flying time in 61 different types of aircraft. His first space flight in 1993 set the record for the longest duration Space Shuttle mission. In 1996 he piloted Atlantis to the Russian space station Mir.

With the STS-90 Neurolab mission on Columbia in 1998, Rick commanded the most complex scientific research space mission ever flown, with unparalleled mission success. Rick has over twenty-five years experience as a leader in some of the most demanding team endeavors possible – human space flight, test flying, and tactical military aviation. Unsurpassed credibility and experience coupled with out-of-this-world speaking skills!

Colonel Searfoss was the number one graduate in his United States Air Force Academy class overall, academically, in engineering, and in the Aeronautical Engineering major. He later earned a graduate degree from the California Institute of Technology on a National Science Foundation Fellowship. Outstanding Young Men of America, distinguished graduate of the U.S. Air Force Fighter Weapons (Topgun) School and U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. His many awards include F-111 Instructor Pilot of the Year, Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory Excellence in Turbine Engine Design Award, Distinguished Flying Cross, Defense Superior Service Medal, and NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. Top results through dedicated effort and commitment. Rick brings that same dedication to enthusiastically sharing the principles of success with every group he meets.

Beyond the unique professional experiences he has enjoyed, Rick’s incredibly supportive wife and three daughters keep him focused on what’s truly important: faith, family and service beyond self. His varied outside interests include running, backpacking, model airplanes, soccer, science fiction, and classical music. With compelling firsthand examples from richly rewarding professional and personal experiences, Rick speaks from the heart to teach, motivate, enlighten, and uplift audiences and fulfill his personal mission: Sharing the achievement, teamwork, and leadership lessons of human space flight while bringing the wonder of Space to Earth for all to enjoy.

Titles

Mach 25 Leadership: The Real Right Stuff
True leaders balance all these elements to get the job done, build their organization, and uplift their followers. From personal experience, Colonel Searfoss knows that commanding a human space mission requires the utmost in competent, trustworthy, and service-oriented leadership: the real “right stuff.” Too much is at stake for anything less. The challenges: formidable. The experiences: profound. The lessons learned: invaluable, for any leader, any profession, any time.

Every organization needs solid, principle-centered leaders. This presentation brings home crucial leadership lessons from a technically driven yet supremely human endeavor. These same lessons apply for any leader. No matter how technical or process-driven your business, people make it happen. And people need leaders of integrity, competence, and courage to move them forward.

Apogee! Taking Teams to the Top
Top of their Game: an awesome model for any team venture!
Successful human space missions demand that hundreds of different teams perform flawlessly and consistently. A Space Shuttle crew must act in unity as one of the most finely honed teams possible, comparable to a Super Bowl or World Series team, with billions of dollars and their own lives riding on their performance. They also need to interact with and motivate the members of a huge variety of other specialized teams to truly prepare for a mission.

From hundreds of experiences in every team role in fighter jet squadrons, test flying teams, space flight crews, and especially in serving as the prime team builder and leader as a Space Shuttle commander, Rick shares the teamwork legacy. The dynamic and difficult team endeavors of human space flight demand the absolute best of its teams. So should you.

“Apogee!” will accelerate your team’s ascent to the pinnacle of cohesion and performance.

Countdown to Success
The Competition to become an astronaut is fierce – less than one in a hundred qualified applicants is selected. What factors lead to such competitive success? Once selected, the training is long, rigorous, and constantly demanding. How does one progress from initial selection to making the extremely complex and difficult look easy during successful mission execution? Through constant, dedicated pursuit of individual outstanding performance.

Examples Through dozens of specific, relevant examples illustrated within the fascinating backdrop of astronaut training and preparation, this program will guide you on a trajectory to learn how to set and reach your most treasured goals. Armed with the astronaut achievement tool kit and sustained, dedicated effort, you too will see out-of-this-world results. Why? Because the principles are timeless and universal, whether applied in space or on Earth, in any profession or personal situation.

America the Beautiful from Space
America – truly a blessed land. One orbital view forcefully confirms the special beauty and place our country holds on Earth. Through the glorious medium of astronaut earth observations photographs, we’ll take a breathtaking journey around America. A fascinating combination of inspiring historical, geographical, geological, and cultural stories with stunning images testifying of sublime beauty, wonder, and hope. This unique presentation will make you more proud than ever to be an American.

As We Dream: A Spacefarer’s Vision
In a short 100 years humankind has gone from earthbound to living in space. What challenges and opportunities await us in the next 100 years? “Who is to say what is impossible, for the dreams of yesterday are the hopes of today and the realities of tomorrow?” With the rare perspective of having flown in space and ongoing direct involvement with private space ventures such as the Zero Gravity Corporation, XCOR Aerospace, and X Prize Foundation, Rick offers an enthusiastic and optimistic view of the technical and cultural possibilities.

Dare to Explore! Adventurous Innovation
The six billion people on this jewel of a planet collectively share a very human need to explore. Yet at the same time, we all too often limit ourselves as we ponder fears and not hopes, fears usually revolving around the need for change. Change is real, its upon us, its ever-accelerating. Exploration, research, innovation, and charting the unknown as pioneered on the last frontier of space give startling examples of adaptability. Learn to embrace the opportunities change offers through this space explorer’s insightful presentation.