Lisa Leslie & Michael Lockwood: Balancing career and family

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Veronica Ward
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. --  Lisa Leslie and Michael Lockwood spoke in a joint presentation about choices, setting goals, and maintaining a balance between career and family Feb. 27 at the 21st annual National Character and Leadership Symposium.

Leslie, who is a former professional women's basketball player, gold-medal Olympic athlete, model, and news anchor, emphasized the importance of setting goals and working hard to attain them while developing character.

"When my teammates had to run or play two-on-two or three-on-three, I was on the line with them because I think it is important to lead by example," Leslie said as she recounted a story from her years playing basketball.

Lockwood, who graduated from the Academy in 1989 with a Bachelor's of Science degree, spoke about choices, life lessons, and tests.

"My mom told me 'I want you to become a straight-A student. I want you to study and I want you to apply it to your life,'" Lockwood said. "I listened to my mom... When I got hurt [during a slam dunk competition] all I kept thinking was my mom asking 'If something happened to you playing sports, what are you going to do?'"

Lockwood went on to discuss being recruited to play basketball for the Academy while still in the hospital, becoming a pilot, and how everything he had learned about focusing on details led up to the moment he flew in dangerous conditions into Mogadishu during the conflict in Somalia.

The couple concluded their presentation by giving separate messages to the men and women in the audience about balancing family and career.

"The choices you make in your career will affect the choices you make in your family, so pick a career that you can do and do well," Lockwood said.