Hey everyone, Steve Nash here, welcome to Traditional Excellence Human Performance.

My life experiences and personality have led me to be curious about how PEOPLE operate, think, feel, and interact.

In 2000, I created Traditional Excellence to test drive some ideas.
More than 20 years later those ideas continue to grow and evolve…modest and flawed as they might be.

I was lucky enough to spend almost 25 years in the Canadian military as an infantry officer.

I served in The Royal Canadian Regiment, the Canadian Airborne Regiment, the British Parachute Regiment, and Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.

MILITARY SERVICE

While most of my career roles were commanding at the platoon (40ish people) and company/squadron (150ish people) levels, I was also afforded the opportunity to act as an operations officer (650ish people), a staff officer for personnel administration (4500ish people) (a job I did not really like but learned a lot of useful things and realities), and as an instructor/professor of the Canadian Army Command and Staff College (teaching/developing groups of young officers for future command levels).

As a culminating proof of my good luck, I was also invited to special operations to take on the roles of squadron commander, operations officer, deputy commanding officer, acting commanding officer and commanding officer (750ish people) with Canada’s two strategic special mission counter-terrorist units.

These roles allowed me to work with exceptional people amid both boredom and high stress at home and abroad, in both training and operations.

THE PIVOT

In late 2009, I was medically released due to injuries and had to re-tool myself to better fit the larger world outside of a military.

At 43, I returned to school to pursue a Bachelor and Master of Education degrees, following a new path as a teacher and educator.

During school, I took on series of roles working with at-risk youth in a local social welfare agency.

As such, I have taught grades 6 to 12 while also supporting youth in many activities, including sports, martial arts, fitness, and wilderness adventures. Over the last few years, I have continued to seek opportunity to support youth and adults struggling to move on from their past to their desired future, including teaching at the college and university levels and with Traditional Excellence programs.

While I can survive and thrive in more conventional classroom settings, my preference tends to be more experiential based (a la Kolb’s theories).

I enjoy linking fitness, martial arts, personal awareness, professional safety, etc into activities and programs that can enable individuals and teams to meet/exceed their goals and expectations. Further, I see life as a ‘team sport’ where we will tend to maximize in small trusted groups.

As such, I continue to grow and nurture the Traditional Excellence Human Performance ‘network’ which links multi-talented and uniquely exceptional people to roles in helping elevate people and teams.

A FEW OTHER THINGS ABOUT ME…

I enjoy reading and drawing cartoons. I do not declare to be any good, but they often make me laugh! Also, I have trained in Shotokan Karate and other related arts since 1980.

I am married to the love of my life who has supported me for more than 40 years and we are grateful to be partners, parents and grandparents.

  • US Army Ranger School (Honor Graduate, Merrill’s Marauder + Leadership Awards)

    Survival Specialist in Mountain, Arctic, Jungle, Desert, Urban, and CBRNE Environments

    Unarmed Combat Instructor (Canada)

    Arrest and Restraint Instructor (United Kingdom)

    Indigenous Awareness Coordinator

    Harassment Advisor

    Military Presiding Officer

    Distributed Learning Instructor

    Tactical, Operational, and Strategic Planning/Decision Making

    Safety Program Leader/Evaluator

    Mediator

  • Law Enforcement and Security Use of Force Master Instructor and Trainer

    8th Dan, Senior Master Instructor of Shotokan Karate

    Wilderness First Responder

  • (1989) Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in History from Royal Roads Military College and Royal Military College of Canada

    (1997) Diploma - Fitness and Nutrition from Stratford Career Institute

    (2003) Master of Defense Studies - Thesis on Close Quarters Operations from Royal Military College of Canada

    (2010) Bachelor of Education - Intermediate/Senior, History + English + Outdoor/Experiential Education from Queen’s University

    (2010) Diploma - Personal Trainer, Expert Rating

    (2012) Master of Education in Leadership from Memorial University of Newfoundland

If I can be an icon to anyone…

I might suggest it is only in that as average as I might be, I have managed to work with many exceptionally talented individuals and teams amid interesting, complex, and sometimes quite dangerous issues.