Videos
There’s No Perfect Time…Act Now
No Laughing Matter
Good News, Bad News About Leadership
Are You Helping Other’s Best Get Better?
Bio
Major General Vincent Boles, USA (Ret.) was commissioned from the ARMY ROTC program at Niagara University as a Distinguished Military Graduate in 1976. He has served in a variety of assignments over a 33 year career, to include Command at every possible level and a number of combat deployments.
His final Army assignment was as the Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G4 on the Army Staff in the Pentagon, where he oversaw Logistics Operations and Readiness for the 1.1 million Soldier force to include the surges into Iraq and Afghanistan.
Retiring in 2009 to Madison, Alabama, he established Vincent E. Boles, Inc., a leadership and logistics consulting practice. He’s been speaking and working with corporate and association groups around the nation and overseas, coaching them on the subject of teams’ “Best Getting Better”. His audiences have included: Deloitte, Fidelity, USAA, Ernst and Young, AIG, The United States Secret Service, The Boy Scouts of America and The American College.
He is the author of “4-3-2-1 Leadership…What America’s Sons and Daughters Taught Me on the Road from 2d Lieutenant to 2 Star General.” Now in its 3rd printing, a recent reviewer commented:
“He didn’t write this book exclusively for the military audience and he does us all a great service by putting these leadership lessons into one volume and sharing them.”
In 2011 he was inducted in the US Army Ordnance Corps and Niagara University ROTC Halls of Fame. He serves as an adjunct professor of Leadership and Logistics at the University of Alabama Huntsville and the Defense Acquisition University – South.
Books
Keynote Speeches
What? How? Who?: The 3 Critical Questions Leaders Must Ask and Answer
The fog in leadership today is too much…too much data without information; too many choices without criteria; too many inputs masquerading as “need to know” that in realty are just noise. It all distracts leaders and teams from developing the focus and synergy that determines success.
Using his 4 decades of battlefield, classroom and boardroom experience - tested in the toughest crucibles - Major General Boles provides the tools for leaders and teams to optimize performance.
Your leaders and teams will leave the event armed with the three questions they must ask AND answer before committing themselves to a task. Questions they can begin using immediately. The questions are not complicated but they are vital.
1. What is the standard you are committing yourself and your team to accomplish?
2. How will the team attain that standard?
3. Who is in charge of what?
4-3-2-1 Leadership….Tools You Can Use Now!
Leaders today don’t require the kind of help that sounds good in a PowerPoint presentation but fades under the heat and pressure of reality. They need tools that hold up when the stakes are high, so that they can be better practitioners of their leadership craft. Using his 33 years of experience in leading America’s sons and daughters and providing the right support in the toughest conditions, Major General Boles delivers time tested tools you can begin using right now. Items like:
4 expectations teams have of leaders
3 critical questions leaders need to ask AND answer
2 reasons for stress in teams
1 truth to never forget when leading
Leveraging The Links In Your Supply Chain
Drawing on his 3 decades as a career soldier and logistician at every level, Major General Boles will walk through the links in the world’s largest and most complex supply chain from the port to the Pentagon and highlight 4 critical issues that will snag/kink your supply chain:
• Standards you use
• Systems you put in place to attain those standards
• Who is in charge of the critical points of intersection?
• Metrics: Leading, Lagging . . .what and how you measure
Providing real world examples of what worked, what didn’t, and why - Major General Boles will lay out a real-world depiction of a supply chain in motion. You and your team will have "news you can use" to better optimize your supply chain, whether across town or around the globe.
Leadership – That Tool That Lies Between Juggling and Magic
Juggling is a verb defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as: to keep several objects in motion in the air at the same time by repeatedly throwing and catching them.
Magic is a noun meaning: a power that allows people to do impossible things by saying special words or performing special actions.
Leadership is that topic that, alphabetically, finds itself between these two, and often is confused with them. As evidenced by these questions and replies often asked of, and heard from, leaders: “What are you doing? I’m just keeping balls in the air” or “How did we make that happen? Magic.”
Bringing his 40 years of military and business expertise to groups around the globe ranging from 40 to 4,000, Major General Vincent “Vinny” Boles provides a lens to view your (and your team’s) leadership practices, processes and actions. He works to create a structure to ensure they are consciously and proactively providing the maximum value added to your organization’s most precious resource: its human capital.
You’ll learn...
• The five things your team needs to learn upfront and early, including:
-What your job isn’t
-Spot checks vs inspections
-Management doesn’t equal leadership
-When to (and when not to micromanage)
-Understanding the challenge of change
• How to really help those you lead, specifically:
-When do you smile?
-Coaching and counseling in 15 minutes
-Handling news (good and bad) to ensure your “best gets better”
-The two aspects critical in every job interview
-Feedback - giving it as a gift, receiving it as a present
• How to really help yourself be a better leader, including:
-Four things you have to do every day (and what happens when you don’t)
-Don’t learn from experience
-The model to manage your meetings
-Work life balance is an equation (balance is a function of how you use your 24 hours - on important or urgent tasks)
-The most important thing a leader can do
You and your team will leave with reality-based, battle-tested tools to ensure they aren’t wondering if they are “juggling” or “magically” having things happen. Instead, they’ll be making the best things happen and in the process being the best they can be for themselves and your organization.
Testimonials
Vinny’s presentation was great! Everyone really enjoyed hearing from him and his experience with leadership. Later that evening, we had our awards banquet, and many of the speeches included excerpts and quotes from Vinny’s presentation. That’s a pretty good indicator that his message was well received. Personally, I was impressed with how well Vinny understood our audience and spoke directly to them as if he had been working with our company for years.
- Platinum Insurance
Major Gen. Vinny Boles, USA (Ret.)'s contribution was fundamental to the success of the event. The information he provided was both relevant and helpful.
- Truckload Carriers Association
Vinny Boles was simply amazing. He is a phenomenal public speaker. Vinny took the time to ensure he delivered a message tailored to the audience, while staying true to his story on leadership. He was a staggering success and received a standing ovation from the crowd. I wanted to deliver a valuable message that my audience could use in their everyday lives. Vinny delivered! He was on target with the message, delivered it in a heartfelt and often amusing way that was accessible to every member of the audience. He captured the attention of the crowd from the moment he walked on the stage and he wove his magic to keep them interested, engaged and entertained as he delivered a message on leadership that will have a lasting impact for all that attended.
- Avaya Government Solutions
Vinny Boles’ presentation was impressive and inspiring. We so appreciate the time he spent with some of us to learn about our department and our organization. He certainly demonstrated that information within his presentation. He was a wonderful keynote speaker and received a standing ovation.
- Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
I’d like to offer my sincerest thanks for Major General Boles’ presentation to the leadership of IKEA Distribution Services, Inc. at our fiscal year kickoff event. The feedback we got was unanimously positive, and our biggest challenge now is finding another occasion for him to come and visit with us again. His mix of sophisticated supply chain knowledge with sensible, down-to-earth, and tested leadership approaches was spot-on with our group, and I would be happy to recommend him to any future clients.
- IKEA Distribution Services, Inc.
A great job! Our attendees complimented us for bringing General Boles to them as the closing keynoter. Engaged and energetic, he connected with the room providing practical "news you can use" leadership techniques for leaders at every level. The perfect end to a successful meeting.
- Constitution Capital Partners
The complete package…terrific sense of humor, high energy, user friendly for my staff and a leadership message that is helpful and relevant to those wanting to better connect with the most critical business asset, their people. I learned a great deal from him in an hour and I know our audience did as well.
- American Society for Health Care Risk Management
Speaker Requirements
Client is responsible for a lavaliere microphone, a high top table (no lectern), bottle of water and a glass.