Articles
Ep 165: Fascism, Communism, and the War for Middle-Earth with Joe Loconte
Dr. Joseph Loconte joins Joe for a powerful exploration of faith, imagination, and courage in times of crisis—how two Oxford professors used story to resist the darkness of their age and inspire generations to come. As a historian and author...
Burned Brakes and Broken Habits: Bringing a JMPI Mindset to the 2d Cavalry Regiment
By Sam Balch The Paratroopers stand quietly in the PAX shed, helmets on, heavy rucks pulling on their shoulders, face paint applied, and parachutes strapped tight. A Jumpmaster moves deliberately down the line, inspecting every strap, snap, stitch,...
Education Without Execution: When the Best Year of Your Life Doesn’t Prepare You for the Fight.
by Sungkuyn “Eddie” Chang After completing the Advanced Operations Course (AOC) at the United States Army Command and General Staff College (CGSC), all students completed an online after-action report survey for the Quality Assurance team at CGSC....
The Power of Panta Rei
By Joe Byerly When I was a kid, there were a handful of professional athletes I used to idolize. They were at the top of their game. They had money, fame, and even got to ride around in limousines. I don’t know why, but that was a big deal back...
Ep 164-A Blueprint for Leading Change with Phil Gilbert
Phil Gilbert joins Joe for a masterclass on leading lasting change—how to move large organizations, overcome cultural antibodies, and build systems that make transformation stick. As the former head of design at IBM, Phil was tasked with one of the...
You Belong at the Table, but Bring your Own Chair: Overcoming Imposter Syndrome in a Culture of Meritocracy
By Lindsey Umlauf Have you ever felt that you were one misstep away from being found out as a fraud? Despite your objective success and merit, does the phrase ‘fake it ‘til you make it’ resonate? If so, you may be experiencing Imposter...
The Battle of the Three Selves
By Joe Byerly Here’s what happened this weekend: Friday: One more drink. One more hour around the fire pit. Then I’ll head home. I’ll deal with the consequences tomorrow. Saturday morning: What the hell was I thinking? I’m exhausted. The...
Ep 163- The 7 Rules of Power with Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer
Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer joins Joe Byerly for a candid and provocative discussion about power—what it is, how it works, and why more good people need to learn to use it. Drawing from his influential books Power: Why Some People Have...
Two Salaries
By Joe Byerly When we compare jobs or career fields, sometimes we tend to default to one number: salary. How much does it pay? What will our financial quality of life look like? What are the monetary perks of the job? I hear this a lot from...
The Narrative Fallacy: Challenging Army Myths
by George Fust Every organization has institutional narratives. These taglines go beyond best practices, they are embedded in the soul of the organization and passed from generation to generation. Sometimes these phrases, often framed as advice,...
What I Learned from Books in 2020- A Reading List
This post was originally shared in the FTGN Monthly Reading List Email. By Joe Byerly I like to read a lot. I have a strong love of learning and I’ve found the easiest way for me to expand my repertoire is to open a book when I first wake up or...
Leadership Lessons from the Patriot Way
A Review of Jeff Benedict’s The Dynasty By Oren Abusch-Magder When I failed my first patrol at Ranger School, I paused and told myself “we’re on to Cincinnati.” On September 30th 2014, the New England Patriots were drubbed 41-14 by the Kansas City...
Turning Words into Works: Reading to Remember
By Joe Byerly Over the years I have collected passages and quotes in small notebooks that I continually refer back to in my writing and in personal reflection. They help remind me why I read in the first place. Two in particular are worth sharing...
Studying the Stoics: It’s About Progress, Not Perfection
By Joe Byerly Recently, I finished The Lives of the Stoics: The Art of Living from Zeno to Marcus Aurelius by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.This book is a profile of twenty-six Stoics, from the founder of the philosophy to Emperor Marcus...
Why We Should Read Fiction and Nonfiction at the Same Time
By Jeroen Verhaeghe Avid readers will recognize the feeling of guilt that comes with buying ever more books knowing full well that the unread stacks you have at home are more than enough to last you several months of quarantine. Luckily, from time...
Why We All Need to Develop a Daily Habit of Reading
By Joe Byerly When it comes down to it, the purpose of a military is to fight and win its nation’s wars. And war is complex. When lives or national interests are at stake the outcome is never certain and events can unfold in a manner that no one...
4 Books to Read Before Ranger School
by 2LT Oren Abusch and 1LT Jack Hadley It’s 0200. Our platoon Charlie 1 is struggling to establish a patrol base. We have just completed a seven kilometer night ruck march, over half of which involved carrying multiple (simulated) casualties. It’s...
The Sergeant Major of the Army Shares His Reading List
By Joe Byerly Recently, I spoke with the Sergeant Major of the Army about COVID-19 and the challenges and opportunities we are facing right now as an Army and a Nation. He highlighted that now is the time to reassess our goals and set new ones. One...
5 Newsletters You Need to Sign-up For Now!
By Joe Byerly I enjoy reading email newsletters! The small number of ones I subscribe to are great source of personal and professional development. They are written from people outside of my profession and introduce me to ideas, books,...
Pick Up A Good Biography, and Learn
By Joe Byerly As Army leaders, we are always looking for leadership nuggets to help us excel in our organizations. So, imagine having the opportunity to sit across the table and listen to stories of people who shaped history in arts, sciences,...
Advocating for Apathy
WASHINGTON, DC – JUNE 13: U.S. Army (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images) By Nathan A. Ballinger If everything is important, then nothing is. – Patrick M. Lencioni I’ve spent enough years as a senior noncommissioned...
Lay Your Ego Down (The Lumineers’ Version)
By Joe Byerly I caught The Lumineers in Raleigh this week. During the show, Wes Schultz mentioned that he and his bandmate Jeremiah Fraites have been writing and playing music together for over two decades. If you are a music fan like me, you...
The Day I Took Command: Leading Through Crisis and Learning Command in Real-Time
By Joe Hap The call came late. My commander had been in a serious accident. Suddenly, everything I thought I knew about leadership changed. In an instant, I wasn’t preparing for command—I was living it. No ceremony. No speeches. Just a...
The Power of Patience
by CPT Benjamin L. Kenneaster Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is “timing”. It waits on the right time to act, for the right principle and in the right way.-Fulton J. Sheen A Forgotten Principle An article from...
The Walls We Build
By Joe Byerly About a year ago, I got into an argument with my wife that spiraled way beyond what we were actually talking about. It began with a question about where to go for breakfast, but escalated into a full-blown shouting match. She said one...
The Tone Range Fan: A Tool for Leaders at All Levels
By COL Ed Arntson and LTC Erik Miller “We must strive to become experts in the human dimension. Wars are fought on land, by humans, and we must always work to become better at how we interact with one another to build trust and cohesion.” – GEN...
What is Power?
By Joe Byerly Two Army officers stand across from each other. Both are in their mid-50s. One slightly older, but only by a few years. Both wear stars on their shoulders. Both have commanded thousands of troops—the elder, tens of thousands. The...
Representing the Uniform, Even When It’s Not On
By Noah Jager When we wake up in the morning and put on the uniform, sometimes freshly pressed or other times rumpled and grabbed from a rucksack, we are expected to uphold the standards that come with our service. With the American flag strapped...
My Commander Is Available 24/7: Is Yours?
By Mike Eads If military leadership is built on presence, experience, and decisiveness, then my commander is unmatched. He is always available—ready to provide guidance, review plans, refine decisions, and offer precise feedback at any hour of the...
Why ‘In the Meantime’ Is the Only Time
By Joe Byerly I’ve been thinking a lot about how we treat the present versus how we imagine the future We’re often too harsh on the present and too idealistic about the future. In the present, we don’t have enough time. We’re too busy. Too many...
Deliberate Communication: What We Can All Learn from Observing Senior Leaders
by Don Gomez Have you ever found yourself in a meeting or gathering expecting to hear one thing from a senior leader but instead hearing something completely different? Something seemingly unrelated to what you thought was important? “What the hell...
Writer’s Block? Find a Coach
by Catherine Putz and Tobias Switzer You finally decided to write. You’ve got something to say, and it’s burning you up. Maybe nobody is talking about it, or the national security establishment is just getting it all wrong. Tired of sitting on the...
A Leader’s Guide to Navigating Social Media in the Military
By Kristy Bell Social media has blurred the lines between our private and professional lives in an unprecedented way, and has also, in some ways, eroded the idea of a “non-partisan military” that shores up our democratic ideals. This came to the...
Six Benefits to Sharing What You’ve Learned with Others
by Jakob Hutter Oscar Wilde once said, “The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself.” When we talk about the role of knowledge in our organizations, we must understand it is essential to pass on the...
Write for You
By Joe Byerly Many view writing for publication in the military as an opportunity to help others with their leadership approaches, inform them on some academic topic they learned about in grad school, or to share lessons learned from a recent...
Genuine Leadership – A Reflection
Editorial note – This blog post is part of our Scribbles series. If interested in submitting creative content, view our guidelines here or contact Cassie Crosby at cassie@fromthegreennotebook.com. By Christian Lance Relleve “The one quality...
Phony: A Short Story
Editorial note – This blog post is part of our Scribbles series. If interested in submitting creative content, view our guidelines here or contact our editors at editor@fromthegreennotebook.com. By Daniel Sukman “James” “Please come in,...
Leadership Vignette: Mission Command and Command and Control (4 of 4)
LTC Kelly McCoy This is the final in a series of four vignettes designed as a supplement to the 2019 series of mission command articles (Part 1, 2, and 3) led by General Stephen Townsend. The vignettes follow a fictional character, John Miller,...
Leadership Vignette: Mission Command and Command and Control (3 of 4)
Editorial Note: This vignette is part of a four-part Mission Command series that will run every Tuesday for the next four weeks. By Kelly McCoy This vignette is the third in a collection of four designed as a supplement to the 2019 series of...
Leadership Vignettes: Mission Command and Command and Control (1 of 4)
Editorial Note: This vignette is part of a four-part Mission Command series that will run every Tuesday for the next four weeks. By Kelly McCoy The following is the first vignette in a collection of four designed as a supplement to the 2019 series...
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