A devastating injury nearly ended her dreams of becoming a pilot. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jannell MacAulay ’98, Ph.D., instead, says the accident was merely the first chapter in a career defined by perseverance, service and leadership. 

1. Choose your hard: You don’t escape difficulty in life or leadership, you intentionally pick the hard path that aligns with who you want to become.
2. Let vision — not other people’s verdicts — define you by holding a clear internal picture of your future that outvotes external “no’s.”
3. Train your mind to eliminate the noise — unhelpful thoughts, doubts and narratives — to stay focused on what truly serves your goals.
4. Aim to harmonize your roles (leader, parent, partner, professional) across seasons of life rather than chasing a perfect work-life balance.
5. Be the calm in the storm by regulating your own stress response so your presence stabilizes your team instead of amplifying chaos.
6. Stop glorifying exhaustion and competitive stress and instead model healthy, high performance built on sleep, focus and quality over quantity.
7. Use simple daily mental skills — like mindfulness reps, the waterfall technique and a mindful minute at transitions — to protect clarity and compassion.
8. Replace “How are you doing?” with “What’s going well for you today?” to surface real insight, build hope and better detect those sliding toward hopelessness.
9. Practice present, personalized recognition, because small, intentional gestures of appreciation can forge lifelong trust and loyalty.
10. When you hit a crucible moment and feel unsure you’re ready, choose to commit  and let the challenge grow you rather than hesitate.

00:00:00 – Introduction, Jannell’s Academy injury, broken femur, and redefining “no” as possibility
00:05:54 – Her father’s influence, early visions of command and flight, and limitless expectations
00:09:26 – “Choose your hard,” setting vision, eliminating noise, and turning barriers into options
00:12:22 – Air Force career breadth, strategy path, and introduction to the Syria chemical weapons mission
00:16:31 – Saying yes to Syria as a mother, family conversations, and the weight of the mission
00:19:00 – Syria as a crucible moment, inner critic vs external “no,” and committing through discomfort
00:22:17 – Identity beyond the uniform, family strain, rare eye disease, and pivot to mental performance work
00:27:06 – What stress really is, burnout, competitive stress culture, and leaders as calm vs storm
00:36:35 – Mindful leadership in action: no-email Fridays, recognition calls, and the “waterfall” technique
00:52:16 – “Breathless,” stories of Syrian mothers, legacy, and final advice to young leaders

Lt. Col. (Ret). Jannell MacAulay ’98, Ph.D., is a combat veteran who served 20 years in the U.S. Air Force, as a pilot, commander, special operations consultant, international diplomat and professionalism instructor. With her innovative leadership style, she was the first leader to introduce mindfulness as a proactive performance strategy within the United States military. Throughout her career she gained experience leading and building teams, designing and implementing complex organizational change, and creating innovative solutions to optimize the human weapon system when operating in rugged and high-stress environments. With over 3,000 flying hours in the C-21, C-130 and KC-10, and extensive education in performance and wellness, she specializes in high-performance under stress with a holistic approach. Dr. MacAulay currently serves as a leadership and human performance consultant for the Department of War, government sector and corporate America. She is the co-founder of Warrior’s Edge, a high-performance mindset training program she developed with Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks and high-performance sports psychologist, Dr. Michael Gervais. Dr. MacAulay is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, has a master’s degree in kinesiology from Pennsylvania State University, and a Ph.D. with work in the field of strategic health and human performance. She is a certified wellness educator, yoga instructor and holds a certificate in plant-based nutrition. Dr. MacAulay is a TEDx speaker, military spouse and mother of two.