From High-Stakes Flying to High-Impact Leadership | Merryl Tengesdal | 704

·22 min·2 clips

At age seven, watching Star Trek made Meryl Tengesdal decide she wanted to explore space, setting her on an unconventional path.

Host Peter Winnick interviews retired Colonel Meryl Tengesdal on Leveraging Thought Leadership. Tengesdal was born in 1971 in the Bronx and is recognized as the first and only African-American woman to pilot the U-2 Dragon Lady, a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. She begins by explaining how watching Star Trek at age seven inspired her to explore space, leading her to focus on math and science and aim for college. Tengesdal started her career as a Navy commissioned officer and naval aviator before switching to the Air Force, an unusual inter-service transfer she attributes to the U-2 program's need for experienced pilots. She describes how this move helped her discover her leadership skills, as people responded well to her guidance. After retiring, Tengesdal turned to mentoring youth, initially through personal training in martial arts and boxing, which she says grounds her during stress. She recounts her first major speaking engagement at a women's forum in Boise, Idaho, where she spoke to 700 people and realized her authentic, conversational style could deeply connect with audiences. Tengesdal contrasts this with speakers who adopt stage personas, emphasizing her own approach of finding common ground with listeners. She discusses the exhaustion of public speaking, comparing it to giving part of oneself to build a narrative for the audience. The host draws parallels between her piloting experience and speaking, noting how both require real-time feedback and adjustment. Tengesdal elaborates on this, explaining that like flying an aircraft, speaking involves pre-planning but also in-the-moment adaptations based on audience reaction. She identifies flexibility, adaptability, and learning from failure as key themes in her talks, sharing that she didn't achieve her childhood dream of becoming an astronaut but still finds value in the journey. Tengesdal uses the example of her graphic novella, which took two years and multiple failed contracts with illustrators before success, to illustrate persistence. The episode concludes with her advice to enjoy the journey and view failure as temporary, not permanent.

As heard by us

A candid look at how a high-stakes aviation career becomes grounded, credible leadership speaking.

A career built around aviation firsts becomes a quieter study of what remains after the uniform comes off. Retired Colonel Meryl Tengisdahl, identified as the first and only African-American woman to pilot the U-2 Dragon Lady, traces the move from Navy commissioned officer and…

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Press play if you want to hear how retired Colonel Meryl Tengisdahl found her way from aviation firsts into keynote speaking.

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