The Military Leader Podcast

Michael Bungay Stanier is an author, speaker, and innovative thinker in the world of coaching and leadership. His most popular book, The Coaching Habit, presents a powerful framework for helping leaders make meaningful connections by becoming more coachlike. In this conversation, Michael encourages leaders to stay curious just a little bit longer and jump to advice-giving just a little more slowly.

This episode features passionate world changer & good friend of nearly twenty years, Noble Gibbens. Noble is a West Point graduate, successful entrepreneur, speaker, and business coach who learns, lives, and breathes leader development. In this conversation, Noble talks about the mentors, authors, and resources that shaped him into the leader he is today….then makes a strong case for questioning those very leader development inputs. If you want to stay in your comfort zone, skip this episode.

Retired Colonel Greg Gadson played football at West Point before becoming a Field Artillery Officer in 1989. His career saw every major conflict until 2007, when in Baghdad and in battalion command, he lost both his legs to an IED. In the years following his injury, he recovered and continued to serve, becoming the Garrison Commander at Fort Belvoir and retiring in 2015. In this interview, he shares details of the IED attack and how his unit's pre-deployment training directly saved his life.

In August of 2012, Army Captain (Ret) Florent Groberg found himself face to face with an enemy suicide bomber. Then in 2015, he found himself standing on a stage with President Barack Obama, receiving the Medal of Honor for his actions that day.  In this extensive interview, Captain Groberg recounts the details of the fatal attack on his dismounted patrol in Asadabad, Afghanistan, then shares his lessons on life and leadership. Be sure to grab a copy of his book, "8 Seconds of Courage"

Before he departed Fort Irwin to become the current Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division, Major General Jeffrey Broadwater and I sat down in his office to chat about leadership, combat, the National Training Center, and how to personally manage the highs and lows of command. 

Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel and renown author Dave Grossman essentially created the field of killology. His books On Killing and On Combat have made an entire generation of military, law enforcement, and first responders more ready for the stressful, sometimes violent situations they face. In this episode, you discover what happens in the body during combat, including visual distortion, auditory exclusion, memory distortion, vasoconstriction, and loss of bladder control.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a leader who is more dedicated to the profession of arms than LTC Matt Hardman. His recent experience as Battalion Task Force and then Brigade Trainer at the National Training Center has made him one of the most tactically competent leaders in our Army today. He has a high standard for what it takes to make a unit ready for war and demands commitment. In this conversation, you'll also see that LTC Hardman genuinely cares about "the man behind the rank."

People who have worked with CSM Schroeder know he is a Soldier’s Soldier. His 34 years in the Army culminated as Command Sergeant Major of US Army Forces Command, a 4-star level command of over 750,000 Soldiers.  Through leadership positions at multiple echelons, CSM Schroeder grew into the iconic NCO leader that the Army is designed to grow. He is passionate about reclaiming the role of the NCO and advises that NCOs should leverage the authority and responsibility inherent in their rank. 

This third bonus episode on the topic of luck features an article by Nate Finney. Just like Steve Leonard in the last episode, Nate says that you can make your own luck. But Nate goes a step further to recommend deliberately shaping that luck, as one would in a military operation.  In the military profession, however, this approach may seem careerist and self-serving. To that, Nate has some great recommendations to help success-seeking leaders stay grounded.

In this bonus episode, I share Steve Leonard's response to "The Role of Luck in Becoming a Successful Officer." In "Luck Be a Lady," Steve reminds us that there is no luck without the team and that the team must make its own luck from time to time. If you're not yet a Doctrine Man fan, head over to Facebook and Twitter to get Steve Leonard's critical, sometimes snarky look at current events and military news.

Some people say that their success arose because they "just got lucky." Others say they made their own luck. No matter how we view luck, none of us can deny that luck has played a role in whatever success we've been able to achieve.  Here is a bonus episode about the role of luck in a military career and be sure to look for a couple more episodes on the topic before I share my conversation with Command Sergeant Major Scott Schroeder. Thanks for listening and lead well!

Every once in a while in your career, you'll work for a leader whose nature simply inspires motivation and action. Colonel Eric Lopez is one of those leaders. He is passionate, candid, and committed to building the team. You can't help but get fired up when you listen to him speak, which you'll really sense in this interview. Colonel Lopez just took command of the 3rd Recruiting Brigade and took a moment to share his thoughts on vision, leadership, and turning America's best citizens into Soldiers.

In this chat, retired Brigadier General Marty Schweitzer shares the heart of the leadership approach that made him so successful and dishes out a ton of lessons for leaders of all ranks. He talks mentorship, risk, combat, candid self-assessment, and family sacrifice. This is no-frills, thick skin leadership advice that will inspire you to raise the bar on your own leadership.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Adisa King joins The Military Leader Podcast for a conversation about the leadership lessons he took from West Point football, how he fires up his Squadron formation at 1-32 Cavalry at Fort Campbell, KY, and the most important lessons he's taken from mentors over the course of his career. Adisa is a passionate leader who brings positive energy wherever he goes. He's the kind of leader every organization needs more of.

Brigadier General Ross Coffman, Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Infantry Division, joins The Military Leader Podcast to discuss the state of Army leaders after 16 years of war, how the National Training Center stretches brigade combat teams toward readiness, and why the best way to take care of Soldiers is to train them for combat. Grab a notebook and get ready for an episode packed with lessons. Thanks for listening and lead well!