Michelle 'Mace' Curran

When really inside, I was thinking I am not a force to be reckoned with, but I'm going to sure pretend I am until I actually can become it. And yes, that does work. But to your point, it would have been so much more valuable to open up to a few people and ask for help and say, hey, I don't have all the answers. I'm really not that tough.

When really inside, I was thinking I am not a force to be reckoned with, but I'm going to sure pretend I am until I actually can become it. And yes, that does work. But to your point, it would have been so much more valuable to open up to a few people and ask for help and say, hey, I don't have all the answers. I'm really not that tough.

When really inside, I was thinking I am not a force to be reckoned with, but I'm going to sure pretend I am until I actually can become it. And yes, that does work. But to your point, it would have been so much more valuable to open up to a few people and ask for help and say, hey, I don't have all the answers. I'm really not that tough.

I'm kind of putting a front on because the minute you start opening up that vulnerability and open that door, someone is going to step in to help you, which it sounds like happened for you. And it definitely happened for me, but I made it so much harder that it definitely didn't have to be.

I'm kind of putting a front on because the minute you start opening up that vulnerability and open that door, someone is going to step in to help you, which it sounds like happened for you. And it definitely happened for me, but I made it so much harder that it definitely didn't have to be.

I'm kind of putting a front on because the minute you start opening up that vulnerability and open that door, someone is going to step in to help you, which it sounds like happened for you. And it definitely happened for me, but I made it so much harder that it definitely didn't have to be.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think it's a false assumption that a lot of people have that vulnerability equals weakness, equals people looking down on you, not respecting you, it hurts your credibility.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think it's a false assumption that a lot of people have that vulnerability equals weakness, equals people looking down on you, not respecting you, it hurts your credibility.

Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think it's a false assumption that a lot of people have that vulnerability equals weakness, equals people looking down on you, not respecting you, it hurts your credibility.

But I think about the leaders that I had that I worked for throughout my career and the ones that really changed my trajectory and were the best to work for and built these amazingly cohesive teams were were the ones that would admit when they didn't know something, when they didn't have the answers.

But I think about the leaders that I had that I worked for throughout my career and the ones that really changed my trajectory and were the best to work for and built these amazingly cohesive teams were were the ones that would admit when they didn't know something, when they didn't have the answers.

But I think about the leaders that I had that I worked for throughout my career and the ones that really changed my trajectory and were the best to work for and built these amazingly cohesive teams were were the ones that would admit when they didn't know something, when they didn't have the answers.

They had people that created a team, you know, that did have the answers, but they were the ones that didn't pretend they knew everything and didn't always appear confident and unwavering. There's a time for that, especially in the military. But when you have those walls up all the time, It actually, that turns out to be a weakness.

They had people that created a team, you know, that did have the answers, but they were the ones that didn't pretend they knew everything and didn't always appear confident and unwavering. There's a time for that, especially in the military. But when you have those walls up all the time, It actually, that turns out to be a weakness.

They had people that created a team, you know, that did have the answers, but they were the ones that didn't pretend they knew everything and didn't always appear confident and unwavering. There's a time for that, especially in the military. But when you have those walls up all the time, It actually, that turns out to be a weakness.

So true. That is so flipping true. It's the reverse of what we thought. So I want to talk a little bit about how there really were only four women in this role. And how did that differentiate you? How did you leverage that to your advantage? Or was that a weakness? How did that work in the military? Because to me, that sounds incredibly polarizing. But I wonder how that experience was like for you.

So true. That is so flipping true. It's the reverse of what we thought. So I want to talk a little bit about how there really were only four women in this role. And how did that differentiate you? How did you leverage that to your advantage? Or was that a weakness? How did that work in the military? Because to me, that sounds incredibly polarizing. But I wonder how that experience was like for you.

So true. That is so flipping true. It's the reverse of what we thought. So I want to talk a little bit about how there really were only four women in this role. And how did that differentiate you? How did you leverage that to your advantage? Or was that a weakness? How did that work in the military? Because to me, that sounds incredibly polarizing. But I wonder how that experience was like for you.

So yeah, at that first assignment, there were four of us at that entire base, which had over probably about 100 F-16 pilots and there were four women. In the Air Force in general, about 2% to 3% at any given time of fighter pilots are women. So it's extremely small in the entire force. Initially, I think I viewed it as a weakness.

So yeah, at that first assignment, there were four of us at that entire base, which had over probably about 100 F-16 pilots and there were four women. In the Air Force in general, about 2% to 3% at any given time of fighter pilots are women. So it's extremely small in the entire force. Initially, I think I viewed it as a weakness.