LCol Steve Nash (Ret.)
Infantry-Airborne-Ranger, MEd, MDS, BEd, BA
Chief Instructor, Leadership, Innovation, High Performance Teams, Human Performance, Team Dynamics, Creativity, Reliability, Excellence, Service, Discretion, Youth Mentor
Location: Kingston, Ontario, Canada
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
• High-Level Leadership
• Human Performance
• Team Dynamics
• Military Training & Operations
• Mentorship & Guidance
KEY STRENGTHS
• Inspirational Leadership
• Effective Communication
• Adaptability & Resilience
• Collaboration & Teamwork
• Conflict Resolution
Lieutenant Colonel (retired), formerly of The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM), Steve is a former Infantry-Airborne-Ranger with a BA, BEd, MDS, and MEd. Further, he is an 8th-degree Black Belt, former Canadian Army Unarmed Combat Instructor, and Canadian Law Enforcement Use of Force Instructor with more than 10,000 hours of teaching experience. Since his medical release from service in 2009, he has focused on being a world-class human-focused educator and mentor. Steve has managed to work with many exceptionally talented individuals and teams amid interesting, complex, and sometimes quite dangerous issues.
MILITARY SERVICE
Steve spent almost 25 years in the Canadian military as an infantry officer. He served in The Royal Canadian Regiment, the Canadian Airborne Regiment, the British Parachute Regiment, and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.
While most of his career roles were commanding at the platoon (40ish people) and company/squadron (150ish people) levels, he was also afforded the opportunity to act as an operations officer (650ish people), a staff officer for personnel administration (4500ish people), and as an instructor/professor of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College (teaching/developing groups of young officers for future command levels).
As a culminating proof of his good luck, he was also invited to special operations to take on the roles of squadron commander, operations officer, deputy commanding officer, acting commanding officer and commanding officer (750ish people) with Canada’s two strategic special mission counter-terrorist units. These roles allowed him to work with exceptional people amid both boredom and high stress at home and abroad, in both training and operations.
THE PIVOT
In late 2009, Steve was medically released due to injuries and had to re-tool himself to better fit the larger world outside of a military. At 43, he returned to school to pursue a Bachelor and Master of Education degrees, following a new path as a teacher and educator. During school, he took on series of roles working with at-risk youth in a local social welfare agency. As such, he has taught grades 6 to 12 while also supporting youth in many activities, including sports, martial arts, fitness, and wilderness adventures. While Steve can survive and thrive in more conventional classroom settings, his preference tends to be more experiential based (a la Kolb’s theories).
TRADITIONAL EXCELLENCE
Steve’s life experiences and personality have led him to be curious about how people operate, think, feel, and interact. In 2000, he created his company Traditional Excellence to test drive some ideas. More than 20 years later, those ideas continue to grow and evolve, modest and flawed as they might be. Steve is constantly growing and nurturing the Traditional Excellence Human Performance ‘network’ which links multi-talented and uniquely exceptional people to roles in helping elevate people and teams.
Steve enjoys linking fitness, martial arts, personal awareness, professional safety, etc into activities and programs that can enable individuals and teams to meet/exceed their goals and expectations. Further, he sees life as a ‘team sport’ where we will tend to maximize in small trusted groups.
YOUTH & ADULT MENTORSHIP
Over the last few years, Steve has continued to seek opportunity to support youth and adults struggling to move on from their past to their desired future, including teaching at the college and university levels and with Traditional Excellence programs.
HOBBIES
Steve also enjoys reading and drawing cartoons. He does not declare to be any good, but they often make him laugh! Also, he has trained in Shotokan Karate and other related arts since 1980.