8 January 2026
by Michael Posey
“It’s never just business. It never will be. If it ever does become just business, that will mean that business is very bad.” — Phil Knight
Nike didn’t begin as a legend, but started with uncertainty. Phil Knight, the co-founder of the Nike footwear and clothing company, describes in his memoir, Shoe Dog, months when bankruptcy hovered over him. Banks denied him credit hours before payroll, overseas factories faltered without notice, and customs agents seized shipments over minor paperwork issues. Some weeks, the team had no inventory and no idea how long they would survive.
But today, Nike made it through that challenging beginning because Knight understood a critical component in leadership is that it’s never transactional and never inhuman; it’s more than just business. He goes on to explain how he moved from surviving to thriving during those days through leadership forged in trust, purpose, and endurance when the outcome is anything but guaranteed.
Trust: Waffle Irons and Mission Command
Before Nike had its iconic swoosh logo, it had an unbreakable bond of trust. Phil Knight and Bill Bowerman, a University of Oregon athlete and his track coach, shared a restless desire to make better shoes.
Knight once brought Bowerman a shoe prototype he thought could revolutionize the sport. Trusting Bowerman to provide critical feedback, Bowerman studied it, tore it open, and examined every scrap. Rubber curled, and glue flecks drifted like dust. This ransacking, unearthing behavior was not the iconic coach rejecting Knight, rather it was Bowerman studying the shoe in pursuit of perfection.
Even though Bowerman’s creativity sometimes looked like chaos, Knight trusted him explicitly. In 1971, Bowerman poured melted urethane into his wife’s waffle iron, filling the kitchen with the smell of burnt rubber. When Bowerman pried it open in front of his protégé, Knight saw the pattern that would become Nike’s iconic waffle sole. Bowerman’s approach embodied Knight’s leadership philosophy: “Don’t tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
The United States Army has a similar concept in what it calls mission command. In its simplest terms, leaders provide their people with intent, and trust them to accomplish the mission in their own way. Knight demonstrated this trust within his business through Bowerman.
Purpose: The North Star at the Hanoi Hilton
Vice Admiral (Ret.) Barry Costello, a mentor of mine, reminds us that leaders must care for ourselves first, then our families, then our mission. This North Star becomes a purpose that drives us within our profession.
Taking care of ourselves depends on the circumstances, with some situations being more demanding than building a business. Admiral James Stockdale, the senior ranking officer at the “Hanoi Hilton” during the Vietnam War survived years as a POW by embracing the Stoic teachings of Epictetus: confront reality honestly and believe you will prevail. This balance of brutal truth and unwavering hope became the Stockdale Paradox. His purpose was to survive himself, return to see his family, and make the Nation proud even in his darkest hours.
Phil Knight lived a less hostile version of purpose, but one no less important. Running became his ritual for clarity while building Nike and serving as his North Star. However, in his book, he confronted where he fell short with his family. His greatest regret, he wrote, was not spending more time with his son Matthew before he tragically passed. Knight’s story of heartache reminds us that family can never be the price for success.
Our purpose must be grounded in self-care, family, and our mission. All three go together.
Endurance: Leaving Others in the Dust
Leading others is a marathon and not a sprint. We must be able to survive the hard times and demonstrate our endurance. Nike defined it early days by demonstrating stamina far from any headquarters.
At dusty California track meets, Knight would arrive with boxes of shoes and almost no money. Before rubberized tracks, dust would float across the lanes as runners warmed up. Knight would connect with the runners individually and pitch his shoes, selling them from the trunk of his car. I can picture Knight in the heat, explaining how his shoe could transform running. He worked tirelessly in the dust, inspired by his vision to earn enough to make one more month, then one more quarter.
Moments like this explain Knight’s grit and Nike’s success: “The cowards never started, and the weak died along the way. That leaves us.” Knight connected with people in his business transactions, transcending monetary exchange for enduring connections.
Leadership must constantly demonstrate endurance in the highs and lows of business and life. We will all have dusty days, and must fight through the frustration to thrive along our journey.
Leadership Beyond Business
I learned these three lessons in my own way as a controller at TOPGUN. Here, I needed every ounce of trust, purpose, and endurance to survive this 13-week program to develop Naval aviators in the most updated strike-fighter tactics.
Early on and long after a difficult debrief ended, I sat alone replaying my tapes. Always the perfectionist, I was frustrated with the amateurish radio calls I made during an event and feared I would never improve. I thought my squadron had made a mistake sending me to the dusty Fallon, NV, schoolhouse. I was struggling to trust myself, understand my purpose, and endure this grueling course.
Then LT “Jello” Aiello, one of the most respected fighter pilot instructors, walked in and could feel my frustration. He told me I wasn’t the wrong guy. I was simply overwhelmed. The course was a mountain, and I needed to climb it one step at a time. His belief steadied me and helped me find hope during this challenging time.
His wise counsel helped me trust in the instructors, my peers, and myself to tackle this course. His words allowed me to remember my purpose that I’m doing this for myself, my family, and the Navy. Finally, he gave me the grace to allow myself to stumble along the journey while continuing to pushing forward.
While by no means comparing this to Stockdale’s experience, I was in his paradox of balancing hope and truth, reminded that leaders encourage others and persevere. Stockdale once quipped, “It is in disaster, not success, that the heroes and bums really get sorted out.”
Steadiness begins inside but spreads outward. Leaders steady their teams through trust in their people, purpose in life, and perseverance in hardship.
Trust: A Better Way Forward
The best teams share the same DNA: trust in each other, clarity of purpose, and the encouragement to endure. Leadership is forged in the places where it is tested: the dusty track meet, the POW’s cell, the kitchen where a waffle iron becomes a prototype, and the quiet room where an instructor believes in you before you believe in yourself.
Our host, Steve, challenges us “to be great today.” One way forward is to identify one person you lead and give them intent, not instructions. Trust them enough to let them surprise you. Ensure they know their purpose. And encourage them to persevere in the hard times.
This action should remind you that leadership is never just business; it’s human.
Mike Posey is an active-duty Naval Flight Officer in the E-2C Hawkeye and the F/A-18F Super Hornet. He is a father of two phenomenal children and the husband of a fantastic woman. He holds business degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Florida and is pursuing a doctorate in education from Penn State University.
The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of the Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
Other articles by Mike Posey in The Maximum Standard:
Forged in Failure: How Setbacks Shaped American Greatness
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