Book Review — Knight Work by Lloyd Knight
My Unfinished Journey of VETLANTA
The BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): Even in our heaviest moments, acts of service done with purpose will drive and ground us toward victory.
Executive summary
Lloyd Knight served in the U.S. Air Force for over twenty years, and during his remarkable career in uniform, he circled the globe more times than he has fingers and toes combined. He often traveled to countries that most people only read about and has stories from his time in the air (and on the ground) that will make any reader both marvel and chuckle.
But his life’s purpose and work extend beyond uniformed service. It emerged when he applied the skills he developed in the armed forces at a Fortune 100 company, where he gained new insights, drew fresh conclusions about leadership, and opened new opportunities. There, his ties to the military inspired an idea that evolved into a concept in action and ultimately became a reality. Today, that reality serves as a cornerstone of the greater Atlanta veteran community, known as VETLANTA.
The content
In an autobiographical format, Lloyd describes his journey from a small town in Kentucky to becoming an active duty U.S. Air Force servicemember. More importantly, he introduces us to the person who accompanied him along the way: his wife, Suzan. After completing the necessary training for his military role, he began his career in Charleston, South Carolina, where he learned the fundamentals of serving as a loadmaster on the C-141 Starlifter. For several years afterwards, he continued his service in similar positions, advancing in rank while flying around the world, transporting precious cargo and troops for critical missions. Throughout these missions, he recounts numerous episodes of fear and fun, including a near-tragic encounter with a Hummer, and light-heartedly shares stories that are easy to visualize and accept as part of an Airman’s duty.
As Lloyd advanced in rank and took on more responsibilities, his family grew, and his personal and professional priorities shifted. He focused on assignments that maximized his time at home with Suzan and their children, as well as opportunities that enabled him to serve in various leadership roles. His experience at the U.S. Air Force Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy in Montgomery, Alabama was crucial. It solidified his belief that “People are our business,” which would define his work and propel him toward greater leadership positions. Ultimately, it guided him on a career path that prepared him for retirement from service and reinforced a people-first mentality.
Lloyd’s first and only employer outside the military, UPS, almost didn’t happen. Through last-minute ingenuity, he overcame an early challenge to join an organization that would, over time, provide him with countless leadership experiences. Starting with witnessing the darker side of corporate business, such as layoffs, he navigated difficult times by taking care of his people, proving his worth, and, as a result, he was entrusted with increasing responsibility to lead and deliver. Lloyd built teams from the ground up and generated revenue that opened additional doors, through which he established UPS’s Veteran Business Resource Group (BRG).
Of Lloyd’s notable takeaways from his success at UPS, he offers three succinct lessons that can serve as guideposts for all who enter the private workforce post-military:
1. Volunteering for responsibility does not absolve someone of responsibility to produce results.
2. Ask for help when you genuinely need it.
3. Don’t give the jerks of the world any reason to hang you out to dry.
By leading UPS’ Veteran BRG, Lloyd continued to serve his company’s veteran community, which has grown to tens of thousands of employees and sparked an intriguing story about command coins — or, as Lloyd might say, a misrepresentation of them. Eager to do more, Lloyd and a select group of his peers eventually founded VETLANTA, broadening his reach and passion for supporting veterans in his hometown, while helping everyone involved navigate an array of good, bad, and ugly experiences. Through his ongoing leadership of VETLANTA, he frequently brings together local veteran BRG leaders and others to maintain the organization’s success. VETLANTA’s summits are impactful and attended by hundreds, reflecting a shared commitment to transform the greater Atlanta area into the top community in the nation for veterans and their families to work, live, play, and pray.
Most notably, throughout the book, Lloyd discusses how his family supported his endeavors. Chapter 11 is the most personal of Lloyd’s reflections, and readers should be forewarned: it is a tearjerker. In this section of the book, readers will find deeply profound and reflective insights as he shares the pain of losing the love of his life. He also eloquently provides his top ten pieces of advice on life.
The 10 most insightful quotes from the book:
1. On service as a Loadmaster: “Even with all that stress and the abnormal lifestyle, it turned out to be an amazing career choice, which I would not change for the world.”
2. On learning from great teams: “Just as I learned so much about teamwork, commitment, and professionalism from this crew, I also learned what not to do.”
3. On his first tour in the military: “I was eighteen when I arrived and twenty-one when I departed, and I’d learned so much about the Air Force, leadership, followership, aviation, people, geography, and history during these years. This was a much better education than I would have ever received in college.
4. On people: “People are the most important asset, and making time to take care of your people will pay dividends.”
5. On confidence: “Confidence is okay if it's tapered with genuineness and backed with ability.”
6. On success: “Success is a matter of many factors, including good luck, good timing, a good boss, and good performance, and never forget that good performance is the only one of these factors in your direct control.
7. On decisions: “Attitudes can change very quickly under the right conditions, so don’t be so totally fixed on a preset opinion that you lose focus on the present environment.”
8. On employers: “Most companies will talk a big game about work-life balance, but if you don’t control that balance, it’s probably not going to happen.”
9. On veteran advocacy: “Success at times is measured one veteran at a time, and we need to ensure we focus on the people and not the data.”
10. On true friends: “When you go through tragedy, you really find out the character of people and who are your true friends and who have just been paying you lip service.”
Wrapping up
This is my first veteran-authored book review of 2025, and I am honored to highlight Lloyd Knight and his work at VETLANTA in Atlanta, Georgia. I loved this book, and here’s why: it’s a firsthand narrative of a service member’s journey from boot camp to the proverbial boardroom at a massive publicly traded company, including bits of humor, humility, insight, pain, and progress along the way.
Lloyd’s story is more than just an autobiography; it explores overcoming obstacles while remaining true to one’s identity in work, life, and faith. His journey from a small-town in Kentucky to a corporate leader illustrates that experiences can be both additive and valuable, and that embracing and learning from them can yield positive results for both our employers and families.
Lloyd’s 20-year journey as a flyer and leader in the Air Force laid the foundation for a life filled with learning and service to others. The book not only captures the love of his life but also her profound loss. It provides an intimate portrayal of life’s challenges, spiritual growth, and honest reflections, illustrating how the good, the bad, and the ugly can appear and influence our outcomes in various and unexpected ways. From his life’s principles, readers can extract wisdom that leadership flourishes with faith, patience, and the right support offered at just the right moment.
Why you should read this book:
Knight Work is a veteran-authored account of real-life leadership lessons that extend beyond a traditional military career. For supporters of veteran authors and their various post-military endeavors, I encourage you to read this book, as it offers valuable perspectives. If you’re a member of the armed forces or a veteran, this book will remind you of many shared unforgettable moments, including terms like “box nasties” and “yard bird,” while possibly inspiring ideas for the next phase of your career. Moreover, if you’re about to graduate from high school or college and are intrigued by what it means to fly or to achieve something significant, this book will provide insight into that experience. If you’re in the veteran advocacy space or work closely with a veteran employee resource group at your organization, this book will resonate with you, as I believe you’ll relate to the stories within. Finally, if you’ve lost a loved one, this book will remind you that with faith in God, you can and will persevere.
With that, thanks for reading!
About the book’s author
Lloyd Knight is a retired Air Force Veteran and is highly engaged in the veteran community, including starting the first Veterans Business Resource Group at UP and is the co-founder and president of VETLANTA, a collaboration of organizations striving to make the greater Atlanta area the premier community in the country for veterans and their families to work, live, play and pray. Lloyd is the recipient of the 2018 UPS Jim Casey Community Service Award, which is given annually to just one of 500,000 global UPS employees.
Follow Lloyd Knight on LinkedIn.
Book details:
Publisher: Xulon Press
ISBN-13: 978–1662874468
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Reading is one of my passions, and I hope you find this book review insightful! As a leader and educator, I love learning and sharing. With each book I read and summarize, I consider how its content can be applied to teams and organizations, searching for resonant elements such as impactful quotes while discerning who the ideal readers are. I seek opportunities to implement what I’ve learned from each book and share that knowledge to improve myself, my teams, colleagues, peers, and those pursuing personal and professional growth alongside me. I write these reviews partly because I love to read and write, but also to share leadership lessons.
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