140 – James D. “Murph” Murphy: Founder & CEO of Afterburner, Inc., Author of “Courage To Execute”

Summary: James D. "Murph" Murphy, the Founder & CEO of Afterburner, Inc., has a unique and powerful mix of leadership skills in both the military and business worlds. Murph joined the U.S. Air Force where he learned to fly the F-15. He logged over 1,200 hours as an instructor pilot in the F-15 and accumulated over 3,200 hours of flight time in other high-performance aircraft. As the 116th Fighter Wing's Chief of Training for the Georgia Air National Guard, Murph's job was to keep 42 combat-trained fighter pilots ready to deploy worldwide within 72 hours. As a flight leader, he flew missions to Central America, Asia, Central Europe and the Middle East. Prior to his service in the U.S. Air Force, Murph had a successful career in imaging equipment sales, where he helped increase his company's sales by 500%. Years later, he became Director of Sales for a small paint company. The concepts he developed and utilized in business and the U.S. Air Force would become known as Flawless Execution®. Applying Flawless Execution's continuous cycle of planning, briefing, executing, and debriefing, he increased his new employer's sales from $5 million to $52 million per year. Realizing that all companies and organizations could benefit from these same concepts, Murph started Afterburner Incorporated in early 1996. Through his leadership, Afterburner landed on Inc. Magazine's "Inc. 500 List" three times. Murph has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, Inc. Magazine, Newsweek, Meetings & Conventions Magazine and has appeared on CNN, Fox News, and Bloomberg News. He was also named as one of Atlanta's top 50 entrepreneurs by Catalyst Magazine. To date, the Afterburner team of elite military professionals has led over 1 million executives, sales professionals, and business people from every industry through Afterburner's Flawless Execution Model℠, and its unique, high-energy programs. In Murphy's latest book is "Courage to Execute", where he shares a multitude of personal leadership stories that illustrates the principles of LOCKED. In "Courage to Execute" you’ll learn: •           The value of effective execution •           How to indoctrinate your people with values and skills •           How to connect the troops with the leader’s intent •           How to move from strategy toward accountable actions •           How to maintain your teams battle rhythm: on track, on target, on time •           The importance of regular debriefing •           How to develop teams and leaders from Day one Through stories of intense situations encountered by true military elite units, Courage to Execute demonstrates why simplicity combats complexity, how mutual accountability yields trust, and how a focused and coordinated environment prepares your team for success. Have the courage to dig in and turn your organization into a high-performance, elite unit that executes consistently.