In a Nutshell

For the last 25 years, I’ve led teams and solved problems for all different types of organizations.

I’ve spent my time…

• Flying satellites
• Developing training programs for multi-billion dollar space and ballistic missile systems
• Improving the way we track satellites and space junk
• Leading engineers and space professionals 720 miles from the North Pole
• Coordinating conferences between senior military leaders and Fortune 500 executives
• Corralling the military staff and civilian personnel of a U.S. Unified Command
• Managing activities for non-profit Boards of Directors
• Creating online communities in the U.S. Air Force and for finance/oil/gas/power companies
• Writing a book on best practices for social learning and professional networking
• Teaching military doctrine, history, and leadership to cadets and military senior leaders
• Building training programs to train U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army wartime and peacetime leaders
• Designing college courses that use advanced techniques to maximize knowledge transfer
• Training a cadre of teachers to educate, motivate, and mentor more than 5000 students annually
• Commanding an Air Force squadron
• Coaching current and future leaders on how to improve performance and make a difference

…and teaching adventurous divers to explore and protect the underwater world.

Yes, it’s quite a varied background, but it means there is a good chance I can help solve your problems, too. Contact me for more information.

My Recent Experience

Principal, The Mike Hower Company, LLC
October 2015 – Present

As an independent consultant, I currently provide support for a variety of projects. Some of my current work includes…

• Learning architecture for The Air University eSchool of Graduate Professional Military Education. In this role, I’m focused on improving the way Air Force Officer education is presented and delivered in the distance learning environment. Our goal is to transform how officers learn their craft and prepare for global challenges using robust self-paced, facilitated, and simulation-based distance learning courseware. Key engagement areas include: large-scale instructional design program management, courseware design, faculty development, instructional tool implementation, and creating environments for continuous learning.
• Instructional design for the Army Management Staff College. In this project, we are working to reinvent more than 450 hours of distance learning and resident leadership curriculum for mid-level and senior civilian leaders.

I also provide consulting services, custom course design, and seminars on leadership, communities of practice, social learning, professional networking, knowledge management, and organizational development.

Chief Learning Officer, Strategic Knowledge Solutions, Inc
August 2011 – September 2015

Led corporate practice areas focused on communities of practice, instructional system design, and leadership.

• Designed, developed, coordinated, and taught workshops and Master Classes in knowledge management; cognitive task analysis; communities of practice; high-performing teams; and leadership, ethics, and change.
• Served as project researcher for knowledge management, leadership, and social learning, including collaboration, mobile learning, simulations, and web 2.0-in-the-classroom.
• Developed winning proposals including a $2.6M instructional systems design bid (integrating three companies) for the US Army.
• Integrated instructional design for the Army Management Staff College curriculum rewrite. Redeveloped resident, online, and blended leadership training courses for intermediate and advanced Army civilian personnel.

Officer, United States Air Force
June 1991 – July 2011

Various assignments culminating as a Lieutenant Colonel responsible for the development of over 3,000 Air Force, civilian, and international students annually at the Air Force’s premier leadership development school.

• As Curriculum Designer/Instructor: Lead advisor for new 250-hour participant-centered curriculum to develop the critical thinking and decision making skills in Air Force officers. Developed tools, tutorials, and lesson-plans used by more than 25,000 leaders across the Air Force to assess and improve leadership skills.
• As Academic Committee Advisor: Lead advisor and primary instructor trainer, responsible for professional development of 48 graduate-level academic instructors.
• As Educational Technology Committee Advisor: Guided implementation of web-based curriculum delivery methods, classroom leadership simulations, embedded social learning and professional networking services. Reduced the cost of information technology infrastructure, provided wireless access across campus, designed an effective “classroom of the future” integrating tools and technology into instruction, and implemented mobile and personal technologies for the web-enabled classroom.