Dr. Waite earned his doctorate from Walden University in Applied Leadership and Decision Sciences with a specialization in Leadership and Organizational Change.
As a fire chief (retired) and commissioned officer (Colonel) in the United States Army Reserve, Dr. Waite has a proven track record in the field of leadership. His creative and innovative approaches have led to organizational success for the Wisconsin Rapids (WI) Fire Department and the many military units he has commanded.
Dr. Waite was a member of the fire service for over 26 years and a member of the United States military for almost 42 years.
During his 26-year fire service career, Mitch held multiple leadership positions including that of a firefighter/paramedic, fire marshal, operations director, paramedic coordinator, training officer, fire investigator, ultimately retiring as fire chief.
Colonel Waite also retired from the military after a 42-year career in 2017. Colonel Waite was a mustang, meaning he rose from an E-1 (Private) to an O-6 (Colonel). His 14 years of enlisted time and 28 years as a commissioned officer served him well. Many in the military community believe mustangs make the best leaders because they better understand both enlisted member duties and the role of an officer. Of those 42 years, 14 were on active duty, including a deployment to Iraq as an operations officer; 14 were as an enlisted member; 6 were in the US Marine Corps as an enlisted Marine; 16 in the Army Reserve; and 20 in the Wisconsin Army National Guard. Colonel Waite held multiple leadership positions in his extensive military career, including that of a disbursing specialist, combat medic, combat engineer, finance officer, deputy exercise director, OCS instructor, TAC Officer at the Wisconsin Military Academy, OCS Commander, logistics officer, plans officer, operations officer, and a Command and General Staff instructor. Colonel Waite retired as the Acting Division Commander of a unit at Fort McCoy due to his leadership expertise. This is a position typically held by a general officer, but Colonel was chosen to fill this role for over 9 months due to his leadership ability and institutional knowledge.
Professor Waite has been adjunct faculty for Mid State Technical College (MSTC-38 years), Lakeland University (14 years), and UW-Oshkosh (10 years). He has designed and instructed leadership courses for MSTC and UW-Oshkosh. He instructs traditional, online, and blended courses. Some of his areas of instruction are: leadership principles, corporate leadership, strategic planning, research design, and organizational effectiveness. All told, as an instructor in his multiple careers, Professor Waite has taught well over 5000 students thus far and provided them lessons they can use not only to pass the course they were enrolled in, but also to apply such lessons personally and professionally over the course of a lifetime. To date, eighteen of his former students/firefighters have gone on to become fire chiefs around the state of Wisconsin. In addition, dozens of his military students have moved on to become successful commanders in the United States Army.
Dr. Waite is also the founder and President of the Double Diamond Leadership Authority, LLC, which specializes in leadership training and development, organizational consulting, and executive-level recruitment. Mitch’s business contracts with UW-Oshkosh to design and instruct leadership courses. He also contracts through the National Fire Academy and instructs leadership courses around the country. Mitch also pursues government contracts to provide leadership development training and consulting to businesses around the country.
In the spirit of service, even after two retirements, in order to continue to serve and assist those in need in the wake of a disaster anywhere around the world, Mitch has become a FEMA Reservist Type II Safety Officer (9 years) and a member of Team Rubicon (9 years), both of which respond to disasters and excel in emergency management. Mitch has continued his lifetime of service by also becoming a member of Saratoga (WI) EMS, a member of his county’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team, and an active member of his local VFW.
Thus far, Mitch has authored ten books including, Fire Service Leadership – Theories and Practices (2008); The EMS Leadership Challenge – A Call to Action (2009); 400 Days – A Call to Duty (2010)/Two Volumes; It’s All About Leadership (2016); Essential Characteristics for Effective Leaders (2020); the quasi-fictional Quest of the Phalanx I (2021); a book highlighting his ancestral roots Waite(e)-a-Minute: This Book is a Keeper(s) (2022); Quest of the Phalanx II (2024), and Orbis Torva Messor – Volume 1 (2022) and Volume 2 (2024). Mitch is currently working on completing his three-volume set of his COVID experience through FEMA, which also contains a multitude of leadership lessons (Orbis Torva Messor – Volume 3). He is also working on a leadership theory book, a leadership book for young leaders, and another quasi-fictional writing in his Quest of the Phalanx series.
As a creator, Dr. Waite has designed and copyrighted an organizational design known as a ledocracy. This design is a modification of an adhocracy but emphasizes the critical component of leadership more than any other. Dr. Waite implemented this design at the Wisconsin Rapids Fire Department, which still operates under this organizational model, and he successfully used a form of this concept in many of the military units he commanded.
In 2019, the Fraternal Order of Elk’s presented Mitch with a lifetime achievement award for his years of dedicated service to his community and country. In 2022, Mitch was inducted into the Lincoln High School (Wisconsin Rapids) Alumni Wall of Fame for his lifetime achievements. In 2023, Mitch will be inducted into the Wisconsin Police and Fire Hall of Fame for his many contributions to the fire service in his community and around the state. In 2025, Mitch was nominated for the Wisconsin Military Academy Wall of Fame by his friend and fellow Soldier, Peggy Durkee.
