Rob 'Cujo' Teschner
Retired F-15 / F-22 Fighter Pilot and Leadership Consultant
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St. Louis, MO
Rob 'Cujo' Teschner
Biography
Robert "Cujo" Teschner is one of the most accomplished fighter pilots available on the speaking circuit today. Cujo, as he is known in the fighter pilot community, is a former member of the F-15C "Eagle" West Coast Demonstration team. He was the #1 F-15C graduate in his class at the USAF Weapons Instructor Course--the Air Force version of "TOP GUN". Cujo was asked to return as an F-15C Weapons School Instructor and became the Air Force subject matter expert on team accountability, something high-performance teams refer to as a "Debrief". Cujo eventually commanded one of America's very few operational F-22A "Raptor" squadrons, leading his team to success flying missions both home and abroad, and specifically in response to North Korean aggression. Cujo was eventually promoted to the rank of Colonel and hand-selected to return to the F-22 program in a senior leadership capacity. However, his 20+ year career came to abrupt and painful halt when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. In addition, he had to learn to live with the aftereffects of his surgeries, aftereffects which fundamentally changed his life. Unable to fly and unable to function the way we're each designed, Cujo elected to retire early from the Air Force, with an eye towards reducing stress in his life to prevent a recurrence of cancer. His decision led him into a phase where he was constantly trapped in bathrooms, unable to do the jobs for which he had a passion, and unable to take any of the jobs he was offered. He eventually sold mortgage loans through a family-owner mortgage brokerage to help pay his bills and take care of his wife and five young children. All the while he tried to fix his body to regain some degree of functionality. Two things drove Cujo's surprisingly positive attitude during these challenging days: the belief that he would absolutely physically improve enough to be able to become functional again--something the doctors told him would not happen, and the belief that teams are teams, regardless of where they are and what they do. This was important to him because he saw a vision for his future in teaching teamwork done right. He also found, through practical application in the businesses he worked in, that the teamwork principles he learned, developed and taught to the very best tacticians in the United States Air Force had just as much applicability to other domains as they did in the high-performance world of fighter aviation. These two points led him to found VMax Group, home of the Top Gun Leadership University. And once his body improved to the point where he trusted himself to fly on airplanes again, Cujo started traveling, bringing his message to audiences across the US and Canada. VMax Group has grown quickly and helped companies in a range of industries embrace the potential of teamwork done right. Some of his clients include Northwestern Mutual, TEC Canada, Eaton Corporation, IMA, and Entrepreneurs' Organization. Cujo is a Distinguished Military Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and a Distinguished Graduate of the National War College where he earned his degree in National Security Strategy. He was the #1 graduate in his pilot training class, the "Top Gun" graduate of his F-15 class and has won numerous awards throughout his career as a pilot. His military decorations include the Legion of Merit. Cujo is a combat veteran, having flown "No-Fly Zone" enforcement missions over both northern and southern Iraq. Cujo speaks fluent German and engages extremely well with international audiences due to his experiences living overseas.
Rob 'Cujo' Teschner
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Rob 'Cujo' Teschner
Featured Keynote Programs
Debrief to Win in Business and Life
So many teams miss out on becoming their best because they don’t understand the fundamentals of teamwork. They get caught up in the “taskwork trap”, their members work hard—but on the wrong things, and at the end of the day the people who make up the team leave tired, but dissatisfied.
Through this uplifting, motivational and multi-media keynote speech, Cujo will teach what it is that allows a group of people to transform into a team. He’ll teach the “Teamwork Operating System” used by front-line high-performance teams to win through disruption. He’ll also teach the tenets of positive, forward-focused accountability practiced by winning teams known as “Debriefing”.
Cujo will do so by combining stories of military teams and personal experiences, including the audience in validating and verifying concepts along the way, and ending with a personal story of transformation, accountability and excellence where it matters most in a way that absolutely resonates with the audience! This keynote is meant for organizations looking instruction and motivation on the path to achieving a new level of performance.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the importance of Team Purpose
Recognize that Teamwork must be learned
Appreciate the value of a Teamwork Operating System
Embrace the theory of Debriefing
Understand and apply these tenets in both business and life
Debrief to Win Foundations Workshop
The Debrief to Win workshop is ideal for clients who are eager to develop the behavior change necessary to apply the tenets of the keynote, while working with the US Air Force’s former Debriefing expert, Mr. Rob “Cujo” Teschner.
The half-day workshop is focused on using real-world examples to both generate excitement about and interest in the core concepts that allow groups of people to become teams. Participants will hear stories, view multi-media and engage in interactive exercises to reinforce the 21 principles that help groups of people become teams.
The full-day workshop builds on the half-day session and provides practical experience in the Art of Debriefing. Participants are able to turn theory into practice, develop muscle memory on the skills necessary to debrief effectively, and leave the workshop feeling excited and empowered to go forth and Debrief to Win.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the importance of Team Purpose and begin work on developing it
Recognize that Teamwork must be learned through an engaging exercise
Embrace the tenets of a Teamwork Operating System at the team level
Understand and be able to apply the RAPTOR Debrief methodology
Lessons from a Life at Mach 1
Many teams struggle to remain resilient through adversity, even when adversity is commonplace. For some teams, failure is considered a sign of weakness and inadequacy and it is answered with blame, shame and punishment. Because of these factors, many teams fail to achieve their potential and many teammates dread coming to work.
Cujo will take audiences on a journey back to his experiences learning to become a real teammate during his time at the US Air Force Academy. He’ll share how it was that grit, determination and a “never give up” spirit help us achieve dominance and resilience where others give up. And he’ll talk about the absolute value and importance of failure—how to learn from it, embrace it, and thrive because of it—on the road to achieving excellence.
Cujo will also give insight into the value of rituals in building teams that are envied by others in the organization, teams whose teammates are proud to be members and who strive for excellence because of their membership.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the value of subordinating personal will for the good of the team
Recognize that grit and determination allow us to overcome internal obstacles
Understand that failure propels us to be our very best, if approached correctly
Appreciate the importance of rituals on high-performance teams
Rob 'Cujo' Teschner
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