About Vertical Performance Enterprises

Vertical Performance Enterprises (VPE) is a U.S. veteran-owned leadership and management consulting company specializing in executive leadership development and organizational performance improvement. Our mission is to help leaders inspire their teams to change their world. We work with leaders in mission-critical industries to take their teams to the next level through the application of proven leadership principles and performance-improvement fundamentals that have consistently produced winning results in complex, uncertain, and dynamic operating environments. Our approach focuses on the integration of three essential areas: strategy, change management, and leadership development.

Our Approach

Strategy

What do you want to achieve, and why?

Change Management

What changes will you need to make to get there?

Leadership Development

How will you develop leaders who can implement these changes, sustain progress toward your goal, and manage risk along the way?

Leadership Development Topics

  • Building and Leading High-Performing Teams
  • Inspiring and Empowering Teams to Perform at a High Level
  • Developing a “Leader’s Intent” (Personal Leadership Philosophy)
  • Coaching and Developing Others
  • Giving Effective Feedback
  • Leading Difficult Conversations
  • Resolving Conflicts
  • Prioritization and Time Management
  • Delegation and Supervision
  • Managing Effective Meetings
  • Leading Through Uncertainty and Adversity
  • Anticipating and Mitigating Risks
  • Problem-Solving
  • Leading Innovation and Change
  • Leading Through Influence
  • Crisis Leadership

Mission-Critical Industries Served

Core Values

  • Integrity

  • Professionalism

  • Service

  • Reliability

  • Trust

Integrity

We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of honesty and ethical conduct, ensuring that we always strive to “do the right thing for the right reasons.”

Trust

We are determined to be great teammates with our clients, always working together to create and maintain a culture of mutual respect and trust.

Professionalism

We are committed to setting the example through our own performance by “doing things right” with the rigor, depth, and dedication to excellence that our clients deserve.

Reliability

We are dedicated to ensuring our clients can count on us to be reliable, responsive, and results-oriented by consistently delivering on what we promise while constantly aspiring to exceed expectations.

Service

We believe in service before self, putting our clients’ needs ahead of our own because we only succeed when our clients succeed in reaching their full potential.

  • Integrity

    We hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of honesty and ethical conduct, ensuring that we always strive to “do the right thing for the right reasons.”

  • Trust

    We are determined to be great teammates with our clients, always working together to create and maintain a culture of mutual respect and trust.

  • Professionalism

    We are committed to setting the example through our own performance by “doing things right” with the rigor, depth, and dedication to excellence that our clients deserve.

  • Reliability

    We are dedicated to ensuring our clients can count on us to be reliable, responsive, and results-oriented by consistently delivering on what we promise while constantly aspiring to exceed expectations.

  • Service

    We believe in service before self, putting our clients’ needs ahead of our own because we only succeed when our clients succeed in reaching their full potential.

David Robinson, CEO

David Robinson
Colonel, USMC (Ret)

Dave Robinson is a senior executive and retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel with over three decades of experience leading complex organizations and high-performing teams. A former fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor, Dave is an expert and international speaker on the subjects of organizational leadership and performance improvement, and a senior advisor to Fortune 1000 companies in the realm of mission-critical operations with a focus on strategy, change management, and leadership development in high-reliability industries including aerospace & defense, transportation & logistics, safety & security, construction, energy, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and biotechnology.

Throughout his 25-year military career, Dave served in several executive leadership positions in the areas of strategy, operations, logistics, maintenance, safety, communications, human resources, education, and training. He flew over 3,500 hours, 200 aircraft carrier landings, and 100 combat missions in the FA-18 Hornet, and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for supervising over 20,000 combat missions and more than 2,000 medical evacuations while serving as the Director of Air Operations in Iraq.

Dave also served as a strategy director for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he facilitated numerous studies used to develop the Pentagon’s ten-year vision and budget for the Department of Defense. In his final assignment, he was the commanding officer (CEO) of a $12B aviation enterprise where he managed operations, innovation, training, safety, logistics, maintenance, and sustainment for a fleet of 250 jet aircraft, and led over 2,500 personnel supporting global operations.

During his time in uniform, Dave discovered that one of his passions is helping leaders succeed. In 2011 he founded Vertical Performance Enterprises to help leaders take their teams to the next level through the application of proven leadership principles and performance-improvement fundamentals that have consistently produced winning results in some of the most complex, uncertain, and dynamic environments in the world.

Dave graduated with distinction from the United States Naval Academy with a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering, and subsequently earned a master’s degree in national security strategy from the National Defense University in Washington, DC. He and his family live in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

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