Thomas Magness

Expertise:

Practical, “Muddy-boots” Leadership; Leader Development, Developing and Communicating a Shared Vision, Strategic Planning

Experience:

Tom Magness has over 26 years of practical leadership experience both in traditional military units and non-traditional, civilian-based, bottom line-focused construction
organizations. He served in leadership assignments around the world, culminating as a
commander for a $5B engineering and construction program in Afghanistan. He has served as
commander (CEO) for five different organizations, all with diverse responsibilities and mission sets. He served for 4 years as a teacher/coach/consultant at the US Army’s National Training
Center, mentoring military leaders on fundamental elements of leadership. He served at the
United States Military Academy, teaching Environmental Engineering and volunteering with the football and basketball teams. He has led multi-billion dollar construction efforts with the US
Army Corps of Engineers in Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; and in Kabul, Afghanistan.
An Airborne Ranger, Tom is comfortable with the leadership of both small units and large with
years of practical experience leading groups, both military and civilian, from 30 to 1,400. Tom retired from the military in 2011. His last assignment in Afghanistan, served as an opportunity to demonstrate that visionary, inspiring leadership resonates not just with
Americans. During his 12-month deployment, he more than tripled the output of his
organization by making people believe in the seemingly impossible and focusing not just on building projects but on building people to be able to accomplish more than they ever thought possible. He built a team of military, civilians, contractors, and Afghan engineers who found
ways to overcome life and death challenges to accomplish the mission. Tom Magness has given
leadership presentations across the United States to for a wide range of audiences in various corporations and organizations.

Publications/Awards:

Tom has published dozens of professional articles in forums that range
from the Engineer and Armor journals, to the National Wetlands Newsletter, and the Detroit Free Press. He is an active blogger, publishing small articles on leadership since 2007. His first
book, Leader Business: Battle-Tested Leadership Strategies for any Organization, was published
in 2010 to help connect military leadership lessons to the business/non-military world.

Education:

M.S. Civil Engineering, University of Texas, Austin, TX
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, U.S. Military Academy, West Point, NY

Organizations:

Society of American Military Engineers, Army Engineer Association