In a world where most leaders instinctively dodge adversity, this bold message from a corporate speaker with a military background challenges executives to lead like the American bison, the only animal that runs into the storm instead of away from it. Blending battlefield lessons with boardroom insights, the article shows how confronting disruption head-on accelerates growth and builds lasting resilience. With vivid stories and hard-earned experience, it reveals how discomfort can shape stronger teams, smarter strategies, and transformational leadership. Backed by neuroscience and real-world consulting, this isn’t just inspiration, it’s a practical survival guide for navigating today’s toughest challenges. If you’re ready to stop retreating and start leading with strength, this is your signal to charge forward.
The Storm Was Coming, and Every Animal Knew It
Picture this: You're standing on the Great Plains of Montana. The temperature drops twenty degrees in minutes. The sky turns an ominous green-black. Lightning flickers on the horizon. Every living creature for miles can feel it—a massive storm is bearing down.
Now watch what happens next.
The deer bolt east, running with the wind at their backs. The rabbits dive for their burrows. Birds take flight in the opposite direction of the approaching tempest. Every animal on the plains follows millions of years of evolutionary programming: When danger approaches, run away.
Every animal except one.
The American bison does something that seems to defy logic, nature, and every self-preservation instinct. As that wall of wind and rain approaches, the bison slowly turns to face the storm. Then, with deliberate intent, it begins walking directly into it.
Insane? Maybe. Brilliant? Absolutely.
And after spending nine years in the Marine Corps, including combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, then building a successful consulting firm that helps Fortune 500 companies navigate transformation, I can tell you this: The bison has figured out something that most of your competitors haven't.
In fact, I've staked my entire business philosophy on this one simple principle: When storms hit—and they will hit—the only way out is through.
What Makes the American Bison Revolutionary
Let me share something that will change how you think about challenges forever.
The American bison is the only herd animal known to science that instinctively moves toward storms rather than away from them. While other animals run with the storm, often traveling for miles in the same direction as the weather system, the bison takes a radically different approach.
Here's the genius of it: By moving through the storm rather than with it, the bison minimizes its exposure time. What might be hours of running in dangerous conditions for a deer becomes 30 minutes of discomfort for a bison. They get wet, they get cold, but then they're through to the other side while other animals are still running.
But it goes deeper than just weather strategy. This behavior has shaped the bison's evolution over millennia:
Physical Adaptation: Bison developed massive heads and muscular shoulders specifically designed to push through resistance. Their body structure literally evolved to support their storm-facing strategy.
Social Resilience: Bison herds stay together during storms, using collective strength to break wind resistance. They don't scatter in panic; they unify in purpose.
Recovery Advantage: By getting through storms faster, bison can return to grazing and normal activities while their predators and competitors are still dealing with the aftermath.
Psychological Conditioning: Generation after generation, bison calves learn by watching: We don't run from storms. We face them. It becomes part of their cultural DNA.
During my time in Afghanistan, I saw this same principle play out in combat. The units that tried to avoid or work around threats often found themselves in prolonged, dangerous situations. But the units that identified threats and moved decisively through them? They controlled the engagement, minimized exposure, and came out stronger.
My fellow Marine, Jake Light, understood this instinctively. After an IED shattered his body in Iraq, doctors told him he'd never return to active duty. Instead of accepting that storm, he faced it head-on, fought through months of grueling recovery, and deployed again. That's bison thinking in human form.
The Corporate Storms We All Face
Now, let's talk about your storms. Because whether you're a C-suite executive, a middle manager, or an entrepreneur, you're facing them right now. They just look different from the ones on the Montana plains.
The Digital Transformation Storm
Remember Blockbuster? They saw Netflix coming like a storm on the horizon. Their response? Run the other direction. Stick with what worked. Avoid the discomfort of change. We all know how that ended.
Now look at Microsoft under Satya Nadella. When he took over in 2014, the company was running from the cloud computing storm, trying to protect its traditional software model. Nadella did something revolutionary—he turned the entire company to face the storm. "Mobile-first, cloud-first," he declared, and marched straight into the disruption.
The result? Microsoft's market cap went from $300 billion to over $2 trillion. That's what happens when you think like a bison.
The Market Disruption Storm
Every industry has its Uber moment coming—that point when a new player completely rewrites the rules. Most companies respond like those deer on the plains, running in the same direction as the disruption, trying to stay just ahead of it.
But the bison companies? They turn and face it.
When Amazon started selling books online, Barnes & Noble had a choice. They chose to run, trying to preserve their traditional model while making half-hearted attempts at digital. Meanwhile, Target looked at the same storm and charged into it, rebuilding their entire supply chain and digital infrastructure to compete. Guess which one is thriving today?
The Leadership Transition Storm
This one's personal for many executives. You've been promoted, acquired, or brought in to transform a struggling division. The cultural antibodies are rejecting you. The old guard is resisting. The easier path seems to be to work around the resistance, to avoid the hard conversations, to implement change gradually.
That's deer thinking.
Bison leaders identify the resistance and move directly through it. They have the difficult conversations in week one, not year one. They address cultural problems head-on rather than hoping they'll resolve themselves.
The Cultural Change Storm
Perhaps the most challenging storm facing organizations today is the fundamental shift in what employees expect from work. Remote work, purpose-driven careers, work-life integration—these aren't passing trends. They're category 5 hurricanes reshaping the corporate landscape.
Companies running from this storm are mandating returns to office, doubling down on traditional management styles, and wondering why their talent is leaving. The bison companies? They're redesigning work from the ground up, facing the uncomfortable questions about productivity, collaboration, and culture.
Case Study: The Fortune 500 Company That Became Bison
Let me tell you about a client that transformed their entire organization using the Bison Philosophy. (I've changed some details to protect confidentiality, but the story and results are real.)
This was a 50-year-old manufacturing company—let's call them Apex Industries. When I first met their leadership team, they were classic storm-avoiders. Faced with Industry 4.0 disruption, cheap overseas competition, and a workforce nearing retirement, their strategy was essentially "hold on and hope."
Their CEO, Sarah, had been brought in to transform the company but was meeting resistance at every turn. The board wanted quick fixes. The old guard wanted to preserve the status quo. The younger employees wanted radical change. Sarah was trying to navigate between all these forces, making everyone partially happy and no one truly satisfied.
"I feel like I'm constantly running," she told me during our first meeting. "But the problems keep pace with me."
"That's because you're not a bison yet," I replied.
Over the next six months, we implemented the Bison Philosophy:
Step 1: Identify Your Storms We mapped out every major challenge facing Apex. Not to avoid them, but to understand exactly what we were walking into. Digital transformation, workforce evolution, competitive pressure—we named each storm.
Step 2: Stop Running This was the hardest part. Sarah had to stop trying to please everyone, stop making incremental changes, stop avoiding difficult decisions. We literally had a ceremony where the leadership team stood up and said, "We're done running."
Step 3: Turn Into the Wind Instead of gradually implementing new technology, Apex announced a complete digital transformation—18 months, every system, no exceptions. Instead of hoping veteran workers would adapt, they created the industry's most comprehensive reskilling program. Instead of competing on price with overseas manufacturers, they rebuilt their entire value proposition around customization and speed.
Step 4: Move as a Herd Bison don't face storms alone. Sarah restructured the entire leadership approach, creating "storm teams" that cut across departments. When resistance emerged, these teams faced it together, supporting each other through the difficult conversations and decisions.
Step 5: Push Through to the Other Side The first six months were brutal. Turnover spiked as some long-time employees left. Costs increased as new systems came online. The board got nervous. But Sarah and her team kept pushing forward, knowing that the only way out was through.
The Results
Eighteen months later:
- Production efficiency increased 35%
- Time-to-market for new products decreased by 50%
- Employee engagement scores hit record highs
- Revenue grew 22% year-over-year
- They won three major contracts from competitors still running from digital transformation
But here's the most important result: Apex developed a culture of storm-facing. When COVID hit six months later, they didn't panic. They'd become bison. They faced that storm too, emerging stronger while competitors struggled.
The Neuroscience of Running Toward Problems
Now, you might be thinking, "This sounds great in theory, but it goes against every instinct I have." You're right. And there's a scientific reason for that.
Our brains evolved with a negativity bias—we're literally wired to avoid threats rather than confront them. The amygdala, our brain's alarm system, triggers fight-or-flight responses that saved our ancestors from saber-toothed tigers. The problem? Your brain can't tell the difference between a predator and a profit warning.
Research from the National Institute of Health shows that when we perceive threats, our prefrontal cortex—the part responsible for strategic thinking and decision-making—actually goes offline. We revert to instinctive behaviors, which usually means avoidance or minimal response.
But here's where it gets interesting. Studies on stress response show that when we voluntarily move toward challenges rather than away from them, something remarkable happens:
- Cognitive Reframing: The brain reclassifies the situation from "threat" to "challenge," maintaining prefrontal cortex function
- Stress Hormone Optimization: Cortisol still releases, but in patterns that enhance performance rather than impair it
- Neuroplasticity Activation: Facing challenges directly creates new neural pathways, literally rewiring our brains for resilience
- Dopamine Reward: Successfully moving through challenges triggers reward centers, reinforcing the behavior
This is why Marines are trained to move toward gunfire rather than away from it. Not because we're fearless, but because controlling the engagement leads to better outcomes than reactive avoidance. The same principle applies in business.
When you train your organization to face storms like bison, you're not just changing strategy. You're rewiring collective neural pathways. You're building what neuroscientists call "approach motivation" rather than "avoidance motivation."
The result? Teams that see opportunity where others see threat. Leaders who maintain clarity under pressure. Organizations that transform challenges into competitive advantages.
Your Bison Transformation Playbook
Ready to stop running and start facing your storms? Here's your practical guide:
Step 1: Audit Your Avoidance List every major challenge your organization faces. Be honest—which ones are you actively confronting versus hoping will resolve themselves? Common avoidance areas:
- Difficult personnel decisions
- Technology disruptions
- Cultural problems
- Market shifts
- Customer complaints
Step 2: Calculate Your Storm Time For each challenge you're avoiding, estimate how long you've been running from it. Now calculate the total resources (time, money, opportunity cost) consumed by this avoidance. I guarantee it's more than the cost of facing it directly.
Step 3: Choose Your First Storm Don't try to face everything at once. Pick one significant challenge and commit to the bison approach. Make it meaningful but manageable—success here will build momentum for bigger storms.
Step 4: Build Your Herd Remember, bison face storms together. Identify who needs to be part of your storm-facing team. Get explicit buy-in. Create psychological safety for the discomfort ahead. Share the vision of what lies on the other side.
Step 5: Create Your Movement Plan
- Set a clear direction through the storm
- Establish measurable milestones
- Build in support systems
- Celebrate forward progress, not perfection
- Prepare for the messy middle
Warning Signs You're Still Running:
- Using phrases like "let's table that for now"
- Hoping problems will "work themselves out"
- Making incremental changes to avoid disruption
- Prioritizing comfort over progress
- Mistaking motion for progress
Signs You're Becoming Bison:
- Difficult conversations happen immediately
- Problems get addressed at the root cause
- Your team talks about "going through" not "getting around"
- Short-term discomfort is accepted for long-term gain
- Challenges become energizing rather than exhausting
The Choice Is Yours
Every morning, you wake up with a choice. You can be the deer, forever running, forever exhausted, never quite escaping the storms that chase you. Or you can be the bison, facing forward, moving through, emerging stronger.
I learned this lesson info in the mountains of Afghanistan, where avoiding threats meant prolonging danger. I reinforced it building Titanium Consulting Group, where every growth phase required facing uncomfortable truths. And I see it proven every day with clients who transform their organizations by transforming their approach to challenges.
The storms are coming whether you like it or not. Digital disruption, market transformation, cultural evolution—they're all bearing down on your organization right now. The question isn't whether you'll face them. It's whether you'll face them on your terms or theirs.
The American bison nearly went extinct once. But they survived because of their storm-facing nature. In today's business environment, companies that think like deer are going extinct every day. But those that embrace the Bison Philosophy? They're not just surviving. They're thriving.
Your next storm is already forming on the horizon. You can see it. You can feel it. Your competitors are already starting to run.
What will you do?
Will you turn your organization toward that storm, lower your head, and push through to the success waiting on the other side?
The choice to become bison starts with a single step forward. Into the storm. Through the discomfort. Toward transformation.
Because here's the truth I've seen proven from Helmand Province to the Fortune 500: The storms you face become the strength you build. But only if you stop running and start charging.
Welcome to the way of the bison. Your transformation begins now.
Dr. Travis Hearne is a Marine Corps veteran, leadership speaker for annual meeting engagements, and founder of Titanium Consulting Group. His Bison Philosophy has helped dozens of organizations transform their approach to challenges and change. To bring this transformative message to your organization or learn more about implementing the Bison Philosophy, visit www.thearnespeaks.com or www.titaniumconsultinggroup.com.
For more insights on leadership and transformation, follow @travis.hearne on Instagram and watch his presentations at @Dr.Thearne on YouTube.