The toughest 24 hours of John Calia’s life unfolded off the coast of Maine in the middle of a winter storm.

A Naval Academy graduate, Calia served in the Navy for five years in the 1970’s. On this particular trip, Calia’s squadron set off into the Atlantic Ocean to test the durability of minesweeping equipment in the intense cold.

One night as his Navy ship navigated the frigid waters, a nor’easter stirred up the surf with 25-foot waves that seized the boat.  Since the best way to keep a vessel stable in bad weather is to sail directly into the waves, the crew’s only choice was to keep crashing the boat into them throughout the night. “It was a formative experience that has served me well,” says Calia.

The challenges Calia overcame in the Navy and the lessons he learned there have been instrumental in steering his 35-year business career. “The military experience has taught me to value forthrightness,” he says. “That attribute is very rare in business. People have a tendency to cover their mistakes or tell you things are great when they are not. When I have hired people, I’ve found that those people who are forthright create a lot of value over the long haul.”

 After serving as a CEO of three different companies, Calia, 66, decided to retire in 2012. “It took me about seven minutes until I got bored,” he says. Calia started his own Vistage Chair Practice in Rochester, N.Y. He joins more than 400 other Vistage Chairs who lead area groups, which total over 19,000 members in 15 countries. As part of the monthly meetings, Calia shares his expertise with local business owners to help them achieve their company goals.

“Vistage is an opportunity to stay engaged with people at the right level,” says Calia.

 A second-generation American, Calia grew up in Long Island, N.Y. He was the first member of his immediate family to attend college. He selected the Naval Academy because his heroes when he was a teenager were President Kennedy, Roger Staubach and John Glenn who had all served in the military. His hopes of becoming an astronaut were dashed when he couldn’t pass the pilot eye exam. Instead, he ventured into business. He began his career at Goldman Sachs and then Citibank and later became the CEO of three separate companies: Lifewatch, Inc., Master Collison Repair, Inc. and Cynocom Corporation.

 His current position as a Vistage executive coach allows him to mentor executives on their business and life goals. Calia has established his .CEO Identity Page to highlight how he assembles groups of non-competing CEOs and business owners and facilitates conversations among them that cover a diverse range of topics.  

"What people are now calling reinvention is simply the process of learning,” says Calia. “Once you've stopped learning, you've stopped living."