Anthony (Tony) L. Hardin is a down-to-earth, effective, and entertaining speaker on leadership topics. He has conducted hundreds of professional presentations on a variety of topics in the United States and Europe.
Tony retired as an Air Force Colonel after 26 years of service as an officer and enlisted man. He held commander and financial management positions at numerous stateside and overseas locations. In addition, he taught war theory, war termination, and air campaign planning at Air Command and Staff College, and served on the Chief of Staff of the Air Force’s 2025 research team. He also taught management and leadership as an Air Force ROTC instructor at North Carolina A&T State University. Tony concluded his career as a Special Assistant for Transformation. In this role, he was responsible for transforming how the Air Force handles over $90 billion in yearly financial services transactions. Tony also served at the Pentagon and two years as the Director of Resource Management at the White House Communications Agency. He is among the few former and current military members who are permanently authorized to wear the Presidential Support Badge.
Tony’s interest in ethical leadership, ethical behavior, and ethical frameworks started when he was a senior at Southern Illinois University. He ran across President Nixon’s acceptance speech for the 1968 Republican nomination. Part of the speech stated: “Let us begin by committing ourselves to the truth - to see it as it is, and tell it like it is - to find the truth, to speak the truth, and to live the truth.” Like most conscientious leaders, President Nixon had ethical leadership at the forefront of his vision and values. What happened? In spite of President Nixon’s great intellect, he had not built a solid ethical framework as a leader and allowed himself to get sidetracked. He allowed himself to use expediency and rationalization as excuses for his misconduct. Somehow, President Nixon forgot ethical behavior is the nucleus of leadership. In Tony’s view, this factor is the common thread for leadership lapses (Lay, Ebbers, Foley, etc.), regardless of profession. During Tony’s presentation(s) at weekend events, he highlights how leaders can establish a solid ethical framework and how they can develop an ethical & productive work environment for their teams. The presentations are entertaining and interactive.
Tony is a former National Defense Fellow at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at The Ohio State University. He is also a graduate of the Program for Senior Executive Fellows at Harvard University. Tony is a member of the National Speakers Association and the author of the book “Hardin’s ABCs of Avoiding Unethical Behavior: Critical But Simple Advice for Leaders in Any Profession”.
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