Transforming Leaders & Forging Excellence

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About Vanguard XXI

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A man with a beard is wearing a suit and smiling for the camera.

From the President

Dr. Anthony Randall

Welcome to Vanguard XXI!


My passionate calling in life is to transform and forge leaders of excellence with passion, purpose, and precision. Thank you for investing a few minutes of your time to explore how the Vanguard XXI Team may provide you and your team with world class leadership development and coaching.

We are life long practitioners of leadership excellence. We seek to draw out potential and improve performance in leaders and organizations through character development, cultural alignment, and cultivating high performance climates.  We specialize in teaching, training, and coaching leaders to know who they are as trusted leaders of character, how to think morally, ethically, and critically, and how to lead with emotional intelligence.   


Vanguard XXI will dynamically transform you and your team of influential leaders to practice excellence personally and professionally aligning your passion, purpose, and precision. 


We look forward to meeting you and serving your team.


Transforming Leaders. Forging Excellence. Winning.

- Anthony


Vanguard XXI by the Numbers

15,000


Leaders taught, trained, and coached through Vanguard XXI's proprietary Transformational Moral Leadership curriculum and Vanguard Way coaching model approved by the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

20+


Fortune 100, 500, Small & Medium size businesses, professional and college sports teams, local and federal law enforcement, and universities who trust Vanguard XXI with leadership development and executive coaching for their leaders and teams. 

12


Vanguard Teammates each with over 25 years of corporate, military, non-profit, and higher education leadership development and coaching experience.  Our coaches are ICF MCC, PCC, and ACC credentialed coaches with over 10,000 collective coaching client hours.  We have served and worked in some of the most high performance executive C-Suite, military special operations, and professional sports teams in the world.

During my graduate program at an Ivy League university, I took two coaching courses. Neither held a candle to this course. By far the best instruction and learning experience I have had in continuing to develop my passion for developing and coaching leaders.

Jeff Paine - Executive Program Manager at Silverthread, Inc.

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NOW AVAILABLE!

BREAKING NEWS!  Practicing Excellence recently won the International Impact Book Award winner for Social Change. It is also a Top #4 Amazon Best Seller.

PRACTICING EXCELLENCE: RESTORING CIVILITY, FAITH & TRUSTED LEADERSHIP IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE

In this book, Dr. Randall calls for decisive action to teach and empower leaders of strong moral character to serve as trusted professionals in their communities, marketplaces, and the public square. By doing so, he aims to restore civility, faith, and trusted leadership by fostering a growth mindset, cultivating moral and ethical decision-making, and promoting emotionally intelligent leadership that enhances human flourishing.

Practicing Excellence calls on readers to take action and reflect deeply on the principles shared through personal stories, historical lessons, research, and practical advice, then actively implement these insights to lead a more excellent life. 
ORDER NOW!

Schedule an introductory call to explore enrolling as a coaching client, or in one of our professional development courses.

Schedule your session here.

Blog Posts

By Phil McKinney July 14, 2025
Leadership is often defined by the decisions you make, the strategies you set, and the people you influence. But here’s a truth many leaders quietly carry: The higher you rise, the harder it becomes to find space for your own growth. Yet, one powerful, focused coaching conversation can shift your thinking, your strategy, and your leadership trajectory. The question is: Are you making space for it? Leadership Can Be Isolating You hold the vision. You solve the problems. You set the tone. And often, you’re expected to have the answers. But who do you get to process with? Who helps you explore what’s beneath the surface when you’re navigating complexity, doubt, or burnout? This is where coaching becomes more than a professional development tool. It has become an essential leadership practice. Coaching Isn’t for the “Fix” – It’s for the Future Coaching isn’t about correcting weaknesses. It’s about creating intentional space for reflection, clarity, and aligned action. For leaders, coaching can help: Recenter on purpose and values Break through decision fatigue and mental clutter Navigate relationships and influence more skillfully Stretch from operational to strategic thinking Avoid blind spots and reactive leadership Often, the insight that changes everything comes not from a book, a keynote, or a training—but from a coaching conversation where you are fully heard, challenged, and supported. Are You Making Space for Your Conversation? Leaders are quick to create space for others: team check-ins, one-on-ones, performance reviews. But too often, they delay or downplay their own development. Coaching requires just a few things: Time blocked for you A safe space without judgment or agenda A coach who listens deeply and challenges you gently A commitment to growth, not perfection This isn’t a luxury. It’s leadership hygiene. The Best Leaders Don’t Go It Alone Behind every great leader is a space where they aren’t leading. They’re reflecting. They’re stretching. They’re being coached. Because even the strongest leaders need a mirror. Even the most visionary thinkers need space to think. Even the most decisive decision-makers need clarity. One conversation can shift your trajectory. Are you making space for it?
By Phil McKinney July 9, 2025
Let’s be honest: If your leadership offsite still includes trust falls, escape rooms, or campfire storytelling — you’re wasting your most valuable asset: executive attention. In a world where leadership demands clarity, adaptability, and alignment, team-building is good, but isn’t enough. It’s time to trade performative bonding for purpose-driven transformation. At Vanguard XXI, we design leadership offsites that don’t just bring teams together — they change everything. A Vanguard XXI Offsite: Where Leadership Gets Real Traditional offsites may offer a temporary morale boost. But if you want lasting impact, you need more than motivation — you need methodology. That’s where our approach comes in. Here’s what sets us apart: 1. Transformational Leadership Growth We go beyond traditional training by using David Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle to ensure leaders learn by doing — and reflecting. Leaders don’t just gain insights; they experience a shift in how they think, relate, and lead. This holistic method integrates real-time feedback, structured learning loops, and personal accountability — all in the context of your organization’s real challenges. ✅ Outcome: Sustainable growth anchored in self-awareness, action, and real-world learning. 2. Moral & Ethical Decision-Making + Character Development In today’s climate, leadership isn’t just strategic — it’s moral. We help leaders explore how their values, biases, and ethical frameworks shape their decisions. Using real-world dilemmas, guided reflection, and peer dialogue, leaders develop the character and clarity to navigate complex challenges with integrity and courage. ✅ Outcome: Leaders who make high-stakes decisions grounded in ethics, not ego. 3. Emotional Intelligence Development Trust. Empathy. Composure. Influence. These aren’t soft skills — they’re leadership differentiators. We help leaders expand their emotional range, elevate their relational agility, and coach others with presence and precision. Vanguard XXI’s certified coaches use proven tools to build EQ capacity — fast. ✅ Outcome: Leaders who act as trusted advisors — not just decision-makers. 4. Leading and Coaching for High-Performance Teams Most teams don’t suffer from lack of talent — they suffer from lack of alignment and trust. Our offsites equip leaders with coaching strategies to unlock psychological safety, fuel collaboration, and create shared ownership. We don’t just talk team performance — we engineer it in the room. ✅ Outcome: Teams that leave with clarity, commitment, and a roadmap to win together. At Vanguard XXI, we want to transform offsites into launchpads for strategic clarity, team alignment, and personal growth. This isn’t just team-building exercises or roundtable discussions. It’s real-time growth in action. We create environments where leaders stop performing and start co-creating. No posturing. No politics. Just powerful dialogue, mutual goals, and actionable steps that are rooted in mutual accountability. This produces real outcomes and not just “great energry.” When this happens, everything changes. Every Vanguard XXI offsite ends with: • Clear individual commitments • Strategic next steps • Shared leadership agreements that stick Our follow-through coaching ensures offsite momentum turns into measurable results — across culture, execution, and impact. Let’s Be Clear: This Isn’t an Offsite. It’s an Inflection Point. If your team is stuck, fragmented, or just coasting — a Vanguard XXI leadership offsite can reset the system. We don’t do retreats. We architect turning points. Leadership isn’t built by falling backward into someone’s arms. It’s built by stepping forward into clarity, trust, and courageous collaboration.  Let’s design an offsite that doesn’t just feel different — it delivers different. Ready to reimagine your leadership experience? Connect with us at vanguardxxi.com or send a message to start a conversation.
By Phil McKinney June 30, 2025
Why Vanguard Starts With Identity in Leadership Coaching
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