Articles
Ep 179- Developing a Monk’s Mindset
Send us Fan Mail Sam Yo, Peloton instructor, former West End theater performer, and author of The Monk’s Mindset, joins Joe to talk about discipline, mindfulness, and learning how to bring the right effort to every part of our lives. Joe and...
Ep 178-Military Barracks, Accountability, and the Cost of Ignoring Small Problems with Rob Evans
Rob Evans joins Joe for a conversation about military barracks conditions, leadership accountability, and why he created Hots&Cots to give junior service members a voice. Drawing from his own experience as a junior enlisted Soldier,...
Saber Junction 25: Reflections of a Regimental Commander
By COL Donald Neal, 83rd Commander, 2nd Cavalry Regiment Just five more minutes of sleep. In the tranquil pre-dawn hours of Saber Junction 25, I learned a commander’s lesson that no field manual could fully encapsulate. I awoke to the sounds of...
Non-Judicial Punishment: The Authority We Are Least Trained to Wield
By LTC Steven Huckleberry Commanders are entrusted with many authorities, but few are as consequential, and as little prepared for, as the execution of non-judicial punishment (NJP) under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Unlike...
Ep 177- Dopamine and the Problem With Always Chasing What’s Next with Dr. Daniel Z. Lieberman
Daniel Z. Lieberman, psychiatrist and co-author of The Molecule of More, joins Joe to explore the powerful role dopamine plays in shaping our desires, decisions, and sense of fulfillment. Joe and Dan discuss how dopamine isn’t just about...
Ep 176- The Hidden Markets Shaping Your Career with Judd Kessler
Judd Kessler—a professor at the Wharton School and author of Lucky by Design—joins Joe to explore the hidden markets that shape our lives, careers, and opportunities. Joe and Judd discuss how many of the most important decisions we...
Are You Chasing Daisies?
By Joe Byerly We build the future in our head with such vivid imagery. We can taste the salt on the rim of an ice-cold margarita. We can walk through every moment of the romantic date—every reaction, the way candlelight hits our partner’s eyes. We...
Ep 175-Bend But Do Not Break: Rethinking the Future of the All-Volunteer Force with Jaron Wharton
Jaron Wharton—a former brigade commander in the 82nd Airborne Division and co-editor of Bend but Do Not Break joins Joe to examine the future of the all-volunteer force and the role of professional discourse in strengthening the...
The Courage to Start Something New with Andy Yakulis
Andy Yakulis—West Point graduate, former Army pilot, and Special Operations officer turned defense tech entrepreneur—joins Joe to talk about leadership, transition, and the rapidly changing nature of modern warfare. Recruited to West Point just...
From Participation to Domination: How Units Can “WIN” the Officer Army Talent Alignment Process (ATAP)
If you don’t invest in the people who power your mission, don’t be surprised when the mission fails. – General Stanley McChrystal by Edward Prueitt The Army Talent Alignment Process (ATAP) has fundamentally transformed...
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,...
Twenty Years in Fourteen Lines
By Joe Byerly The man handed me the document fresh off the printer. “Make sure you keep this in a safe place,” he said. “This is your proof of service. Probably the most important document you’ll ever own.” I looked down at the still-warm DD214,...
Broadening with Purpose: Making the Most of the Army’s Broadening Opportunity Program
By Lyndi Dix During my time in company command, I was approached by a few mentors who encouraged me to consider the Broadening Opportunity Program (BOP) as I began thinking about what came next. I knew broadening was a common next step following...
A Body of Work
By Joe Byerly We start each year with the best of intentions, and then life happens. Dry January becomes Damp January. The gym membership app turns into just another unused icon on the phone. Weekly date nights, diets, check-ins with family and...
The Courage to Face Where You Are
By Joe Byerly For the second year in a row, I’ve traveled to Dallas for the Military Appreciation Bowl in an effort to talk to young men and women about the opportunities for serving in our Nation’s military. The multi-day event includes...
Would You Do it in Secret?
By Joe Byerly When I look back on a career’s worth of decisions, I can trace most of my motives to three sources: necessity, passion, and ego. The first is straightforward. I did a lot of things because they were required of me. I moved across the...
A Leader’s True North – Start with the Golden Rule (Yeah, that one)
By CSM Scott Dinse A young leader has plenty of reason to be confused about what effective leadership looks and/or feels like. We have books, podcasts, experts, and even celebrities telling us what we should be doing and how we should be getting it...
Adjusting the Learning Curve to Mentor the Workforce of the Future
by Chaveso “Chevy” Cook Recruiting and retaining top talent, especially from younger generations, is a hot topic, regardless of the workforce context. From managing Millennials, Gen Z, and incoming Gen Alpha in our workspaces, to garnering their...
An Open Letter to NCOs: Reclaiming Developmental Counseling
By: Gustavo Arguello Let’s be honest: most leaders feel that they are stretched thinner than a supply sergeant’s budget at the end of the fiscal year. Between deployments, training exercises, training meetings, and the endless admin requirements,...
The View We Never Get
By Joe Byerly It’s like looking down from a mountain top and seeing it all. I know everything that’s going to happen to him. As he struggles through college algebra, I know he’s going to be just fine and earn his degree. As he wrestles with...
From So What to Therefore
This is part II of a two-part series for intelligence officers. Read part I here. By Louis Crist Have you ever been told, “Just give me the ‘so what’!” I saw this over and over again as an OC/T, watching commanders frustratingly critique their S2s...
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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