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Life and Leadership lessons from five and a half years as a prisoner of war with Colonel Lee Ellis
Episode 32
My guest today is a very special individual. Lee Ellis is a retired United States Air Force Colonel, award-winning author, speaker, and consultant. He was shot down and captured in the Vietnam war and spend 5 ½ years as a POW, including time at the notorious Hanoi Hilton.
Lee’s military decorations include a Bronze star, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal and a Purple Heart.
Lee is now an on the subjects of leadership and human performance, organisational integrity, operational effectiveness, and personal accountability.
You can check out Lee's website and great books and other products here.
Here's what we discuss:
Start - How Lee came to join the military
3:24 - Going through military training
6:04 - Getting assigned to the Vietnam war
7:51 - The experience of getting shot down & captured
15:50 - Arriving at the Hanoi Hilton POW camp
17:14 - Torture & resistance
25:56 - How aircrew personality profiles helped
27:44 - The TAP CODE & POW culture
32:31 - Heroic leaders in the POW camps
36:02 - The most challenging aspects of captivity
39:29 - The importance of meaning & purpose
41:59 - Humour & optimism
45:50 - On finding out they were going home
50:23 - Getting back home & readjusting
international speaker and consultant
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Published on 4 years, 7 months ago