
Robert Roncska
- Celebrated former U.S. Navy Captain known for transforming organizations through compassionate leadership, safety, health, and high reliability
- Inspires audiences with his time leading in high-risk situations as Commander of a nuclear-powered submarine and carrying the “nuclear football” for Former President George W. Bush
- Equips audiences with practical tools for leaders to transform organizations, overcome challenges, and build meaningful relationships
- On a mission to promote and teach leading with love to foster positive cultures
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There is one simple yet powerful principle that drives Dr. Robert “Navy Bob” Roncska’s passion for creating positive, enduring change in organizations—love. With a distinguished 28-year career in the U.S. Navy, Ronscka at one time was responsible for over 1,700 personnel with assets exceeding $25 billion, executing numerous unprecedented missions vital to National Security with no margin for error. In this high-stakes environment, Ronscka understood the importance of fostering a supportive, loving, and people-centric environment. His principles of leading with love proved to be incredibly effective. Under his leadership, the USS TEXAS received the best-performing ship award in its squadron and achieved the highest personnel retention and lowest attrition in the Pacific Fleet for two consecutive years.
Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Roncska’s leadership principles resonate powerfully on stage through his warm personality. He captivates audiences with stories from his Navy days, demonstrating how his leadership style empowered his crew to communicate openly, which in turn saved both lives and billions of dollars. Roncska also shares insights about his career in healthcare as the Senior Vice President of the Florida Chamber of Health Council, where he used his philosophy of leading with love to improve Florida’s healthcare infrastructure by advocating for better patient care and staff well-being. Ronscka teaches audiences that any industry can benefit from leading with love.
In his bestselling book, Beyond the Sea: Leading with Love from the Nuclear Navy to the White House and Healthcare and book High Reliability Healthcare, Bob Roncska offers a comprehensive look into his leadership philosophy rooted in compassion and trust. Beyond the Sea explores his journey from handling life-or-death situations in the Navy to transforming team culture within healthcare organizations, illustrating how love as a leadership principle can foster both efficiency and loyalty. In High Reliability Healthcare, co-authored with Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, Roncska provides actionable tools for building high-reliability organizations in healthcare, drawing from the nuclear navy’s unparalleled safety record. Through these real-world examples, he challenges conventional notions of leadership, showing that compassion can drive remarkable results in even the most complex, high-stakes environments.
Roncska also served as the Naval Aide to President George W. Bush, where he was responsible for the safety of the Office of the President and managed sensitive national security programs while carrying the nuclear codes also known as the “Nuclear Football.” This role earned him the affectionate nickname "Navy Bob" by President Bush. Currently, Bob Ronscka is the founder and CEO of Navy Bob LLC where he champions mental well-being by providing leaders with practical examples and tools for leading with love.
Leading with Love: Transforming Workplace Cultures through Compassionate Leadership. In high-stakes environments like the military and healthcare, Dr. Robert “Navy Bob” Roncska discovered that a culture of love and compassion could fuel remarkable results. As a commanding officer of fast-attack nuclear submarines, he led his crew with a people-first approach that proved vital to their safety and success, earning his ship recognition as the best-performing in its squadron. Now, as an inspiring advocate for mental well-being and workplace transformation, Roncska shares his signature “leading with love” philosophy. In this talk, he guides audiences through practical steps for implementing compassion in their own teams, showing how a supportive, people-centered approach can improve retention, foster open communication, and ultimately drive success across industries.
Navigating Risk with Heart: Building Safety and Reliability in High-Stakes Environments. As a leader in both the military and healthcare, Bob Roncska is no stranger to making decisions that affect teams in high-risk, life-or-death environments. In many high-stakes settings, traditional approaches often fall short and lead to preventable errors that compromise safety and morale. Drawing from his distinguished career commanding nuclear submarines and transforming healthcare, Roncska demonstrates that love and trust are essential for fostering safety, reliability, and team resilience. He offers audiences valuable insights on how compassionate, trust-driven leadership can enhance communication, reduce errors, and create resilient teams that thrive under pressure.
High Reliability Healthcare: Applying the Secrets of the Nuclear Navy to Save Patient Lives. After a distinguished 28-year career in the U.S. Navy, former Nuclear Navy captain Bob Roncska transitioned into healthcare, recognizing that the high-stakes, safety-focused leadership skills he honed in the military could also transform patient care. As Executive Director for Patient Safety at AdventHealth, Roncska applied these principles to improve clinical outcomes and team reliability. In this talk, he draws on insights from his new book, High Reliability Healthcare, co-authored with Dr. Jeffrey Kuhlman, to show how healthcare organizations can reduce errors, boost productivity, and deliver more reliable patient care by adopting proven strategies centered on safety, trust, and accountability.