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Ep 152- Perseverance > Endurance with Blayne Smith and Brandon Young
Send us a text Army veterans and leadership experts Brandon Young and Blayne Smith join the podcast for a powerful conversation about their new book, Perseverance > Endurance: Lead with Resilience. Grow Through Adversity. Win Together....
FM 1: A Primer to Our Profession of Arms and to Professional Development
By: Michael Villahermosa In 2008 when I arrived at 30th AG, Replacement Battalion, I was handed the IET Soldier’s Handbook (TRADOC Pamphlet 600-4). For the next 16 weeks, I carried this dry read about the Army Values, Warrior Ethos, and using...
Why Write in the Age of AI?
By Tim Devine Outsourcing your writing to AI is tantalizing because of its sudden ubiquity. Despite the convenience, there’s a hidden cost when you transfer your agency as a writer. It robs you of crucial cognitive development. Composing your...
Reflections of a Specialty Platoon Leader (and Why You Should Do It)
by William Moorhead As an Infantry Lieutenant, your time as a Platoon Leader (PL) is the peak of your first four years in the Army. You will train for it, stress over it, and only begin to appreciate it once you are out of the seat and begin...
Don’t Let the Colors Touch
By Joe Byerly Wake upSlog down a cup of coffeeBrush teeth and shaveGranola barGrab my bagFlip the office light onEmailsPhysical trainingShowerMeetingsTrainingMore meetingsLast minute emergenciesEmergencies that shouldn’t be last minuteGrab my...
Ep 151: Model the Courage: CSM JoAnn Naumann on Feedback, Innovation, and the NCO’s Role
U.S. Army Special Operations Command Sergeant Major JoAnn Naumann returns to the podcast—this time from the range at Fort Bragg—for a conversation on leadership, transformation, and enabling the next generation of special operations forces. With...
From Gatekeeping to Growth: Culture Change Lessons from an RTB Commander
by Jace Neuenschwander “I learned the hard way. Sometimes the best way to change a culture is to stop trying to change it.” A former Battalion Commander said these words to me, and his advice has stuck with me for years. This former Commander led...
Why Do I Keep My Notebooks?
Photo courtesy of Jay Ireland, who also keeps ALL of his notebooks! by David J. Vowell A few years ago, I worked in the operations center (S3) of the Air Traffic Control organization in the Aviation Center of Excellence in Fort Novosel, AL. This...
Risk, Data, and Leader Presence: A Better Way to Combat Corrosive Behavior
By Kyle D. Popelka On a characteristically comfortable December day in southern Arizona, commanders and senior enlisted advisors from across Fort Huachuca gathered to discuss risk reduction and combating harmful behaviors within the force. Leaders...
What’s the Cost of Greatness?
By Joe Byerly A dozen eggs costs about $3. A value meal at McDonald’s? Around $5. A Friday night movie ticket? $17. These prices are tangible. We know them before we walk into the store, pull into the drive-thru, or pick someone up for a night out....
Getting the Most Out of Professional Reading
This post originally appeared at Small Wars Journal on May 26, 2014 “How do I know what I think until I see what I say?” -E.M. Forster By Joe Byerly From the time I commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army I’ve been told...
How to Lead with the Strength of Nelson
This post is also available at the U.S. Naval Institute Blog and at Small Wars Journal Typically the Services study historic leaders from their own particular domain of expertise (air, sea, land), and rarely do they venture beyond this. The Navy...
2013: A Good Year for Reading
This past year was filled with several work related trips, and because of the airports, airplanes, and hotel rooms, I was able to focus my efforts on professional study. This blog is an outgrowth of those efforts. Even though I’ve...
Leaders are Readers
From Washington to Mattis, our most successful leaders were life-long students of war. In the July-September issue of Armor Magazine, I wrote a piece called Maneuver Leaders, Self-Study and War, where I discuss the importance of life-long learning...
Why Every Leader Needs to Create a “Me Manual”
By Joe Byerly One of the first pieces of advice I received when I joined the Army was to create an “I love me book.” This binder became a repository for all my awards, evaluation reports, orders, and even handwritten notes from senior leaders. I...
Silent Sacrifices, Powerful Impact: The Truth About Military Spouses
Albert D. Keever Jr. In the military, the term “dependent” usually refers to someone who relies on a service member for financial and medical support, such as a spouse or a child. It’s a label that, on the surface, appears...
Power is the Great Auditor
By Joe Byerly Do you believe you have a strong character? Do you think you’re a highly competent leader? Do you think you understand the full extent of your faults? Do you think you can do a better job than the guy or gal currently in the role you...
Learning to Live a Halfway Interesting Life
By Joe Byerly It’s been three years since I deployed to Europe on short notice with the 82nd Airborne Division in preparation for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Nine months since I gave up command of a cavalry squadron in Europe. And six months...
Chasing the Inner Circle
By Joe Byerly Most of us, whether we admit it or not, feel the pull toward the ‘inner circle’ in our professional lives. For some, it’s a passing thought. For others, it’s an obsession that can cost friendships, even family, in the pursuit of being...
Power and the Inner Circle
By Joe Byerly We often think of power as something that belongs to the person in charge. The corporate executive, political leader, or military commander is the one with all the power, right? However, power rarely exists in isolation, it...
Rev Up Readiness: How Auto Skills Centers Drive Military Excellence
by Mike Murray Being a service member in the United States military comes with a lot of little-known benefits. Most people are familiar with the big benefits, like healthcare, dental, access to commissaries and exchanges, and legal or financial...
The Thing That Will Destroy Us
By Joe Byerly Some of the best things in life start small and grow over time—relationships, financial investments, fitness levels. But the same pattern can apply to something far more dangerous: power. Power isn’t inherently bad; we need it to make...
The Most Important Notebook the Chief of Staff of the Army Carries
By Joe Byerly A couple of weeks ago, I had a conversation with the Chief of Staff of the Army General Randy A. George when he showed me a small 5×7 notebook he always carries. Inside are nearly two decades of insights and lessons, ideas that...
Gains Disguised as Losses
By Joe Byerly Have you ever been knocked off your feet? I’m not talking about getting sucker-punched in a 1 a.m. bar fight or settling an old high school grudge by the flagpole. I mean those moments when life takes a swing and sends you sprawling....
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