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READ, WRITE, REFLECT

Lead with your very best self

WHO IS JOE?

In 2013, Joe Byerly thought something was missing in his journey to become a better leader. He wanted to create a place where leaders could share their hard-won lessons and help each other along the journey. He started looking in the place where he captured his own lessons, quotes from books, and ideas for the future –his green notebook.

Today, FTGN is run by a team of passionate professionals who want to help others lead with the best version of themselves.

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“HOW TO” GUIDES

S3,Ep 36: Anthony Zinni- A Life of Leadership

Retired Marine Corps General Anthony Zinni joins the show to share the lessons he learned from over four decades of public service. He provides leadership insights and stories that range from his experiences in the jungles of Vietnam to the headquarters of United...

Every Soldier A Warrior: Bridging the Divide Between Combat and Support

by Benjamin Phocas After twenty years of counterinsurgency, with some spending entire combat deployments in an air conditioned office on a city sized forward operating base, it has become easy for soldiers not at the tip of the spear to treat the Army as a simple...

Developing Your Reading Plan

by Jakob Hutter During a speech in 1957, Dwight Eisenhower made a paradoxical statement about preparation when he told an anecdote about the maps used during military training in Leavenworth. He stated, “plans are worthless, but planning is everything.” Just as...

Leading into the Future: Why You Should Write a Thesis at CGSC

by Benjamin Van Horrick To the incoming class, welcome to Fort Leavenworth and the United States Army Combined Arms Center Command and General Staff College (CGSC). You are embarking on the most pivotal—and certainly not the easiest—year of your life. CGSC...

S3,Ep35: Dr. Cassie Holmes- How To Fight Time Poverty

Dr. Cassie Holmes, an expert on time and happiness, joins Joe to discuss her recently published book, Happier Hour: How to Beat Distraction, Expand Your Time, and Focus on What Matters Most. She provides useful advice for those who find themselves feeling like they...

Planning to Win the Tactical Level Fights: How Simple Operations Products Enable Synchronized Success

by Sean Leary Battalion and brigade staffs operate somewhere in between the company tactical level and the operational machines that are division headquarters. In this area, it is essential for commanders and their supporting staffs to be trained and proficient...

S3,Ep34: Sanyin Siang- What is Your Superpower?

Sanyin Siang’s mission in life is to enable greatness in others. In this episode, Sanyin and Joe discuss how each of us has a unique set of superpowers that are waiting to be unleashed. She believes that once we understand our superpowers, we can...

10 Rules to Live by on Social Media for Those who Serve

by Orlandon Howard “When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.” – King Solomon (1010-931 BCE) It’s easy to make mistakes when communicating regularly on social media. Humans are prone to it...

S3,Ep33: Arthur C. Brooks- Are You Addicted to Success?

Many of us are success addicts and we don’t even know it. Arthur C. Brooks, author of From Strength to Strength, joins the show to discuss why our brains are wired to chase achievement and how it can negatively impact our overall happiness. He also shares where...

Lessons Learned for an Effective Training Pathway and Development

by J David Thompson “What did we do that made us so effective?” A few weeks after returning from a deployment to the Levant, one of my Team Sergeants asked me this question after he and his Team Leader had a chance to reflect on the past rotation. One thing that...

Commander’s Focus Areas for Large Scale Combat Operations

by Ronald Sprang Commanders are critical to an organization’s success. Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO) stress a unit’s leaders, systems and processes, which require unremitting focus and leadership. Commanders must train their organizations to operate the routine...

Thinking Outside the Box: The Use of Social Media and Virtual Work in the Development of Effective Communication at WHINSEC

by Moacir Mendonca, Rolly Sanchez, and Cesar Soto-Ramos In today’s ever-changing academic and global security environment, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) quickly adapted and successfully overcame many challenges that unfurled at...

LEADERSHIP

Thinking Outside the Box: The Use of Social Media and Virtual Work in the Development of Effective Communication at WHINSEC

10 More Ways Commanders Can Embolden their PAO and Communicate Better

by Kevin Sandell Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series focused on improving your unit’s communication efforts through your Public Affairs Office. The first part of this series can be read here. The unit public affairs office (PAO) – and...

The One Thing Series: No Longer One of the Guys

by Chad Corrigan One thing I learned early in Squadron command is that I was no longer one of the guys. You cross a major threshold when you transition from company grade through field grade time and on to Squadron Command. I may have felt the same, but I wasn’t...

The One Thing Series: Leading in the Present

by Christopher Williams “The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good...

A Different Point of View: A Military Child’s Perspective of the Task

By McKenzie Dull My dad was a soldier in the United States Army long before I was born. It is all I have ever known. Being around people who serve is a way of life to me and something I took for granted and did not fully understand. It wasn’t until recently, after...

The One Thing I Wish I Would Have Known…

Leaders, This summer many of you are changing out of position. We’ve got a question for you: What’s the one thing you wish you would have known before you started the job? We all have the one nugget of wisdom we learned the hard way that we wish we would...

On Practical Leadership- The Value of Active Listening

by Alberto J. Delgado “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” You’ve probably heard that quote thrown around at meetings and posted all over social-media as axiomatic of good...

Moral Injury: A Primer

by Caleb Miller Military professionals are relatively familiar with general mental health and PTSD; a newer concept, “moral injury,” has been growing in popularity for the past few decades among top leaders, counselors, psychologists and chaplains. Since the month of...

Strength in Inclusion

by Jakob Hutter A unique characteristic of the United States military is the diverse makeup of people and their ideas. When service members of different races, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and other identities have a shared understanding and...

The Science and Art of Command

by Michael Everett Does the Army practice Mission Command? Or Command and Control? After the 2019 update to ADP 6-0 Mission Command, many young leaders are confused about the terms command and control and mission command. The bottom line is this: Mission command is...

S3,Ep 26: LT. GEN. Xavier Brunson and COL. (ret) Kirsten Brunson- Managing the Tension Between Work and Family

In this episode, Joe talks to the Brunsons about how they’ve managed their careers and their family, while both having served in the U.S. Army. LT. GEN. Brunson and Kirsten share lessons on communication, maintaining relationships with children, and emphasize...