Award-winning journalist Sally Jenkins joins the Joe to discuss her newest book: The Right Call: What Sports Teach Us About Work and Life.  In this episode, she shares key insights on performance that’s she’s learned from decades of observing, interviewing, and analyzing elite coaches and playmakers, such as Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and many others. Click here to listen to the episode Meet Sally Sally Jenkins is an award-winning journalist for The Washington Post and is the author and co-author of 12 books, including four bestsellers. In 2012 she published the ..read more

by Mitch Butterworth “It is not what [leaders] know or how bright they are that leads to success or failure; [rather] how well they work with others, and how well they understand themselves.” – R.J. Burke                                                                   ..read more

By Joel Smith  The Four Types of Officers As a young officer I read German General Kurt Von Hammerstein-Equord’s four officer categories; they are 1) the clever, 2) the industrious, 3) the lazy, and 4) the stupid. “I divide my officers into four classes as follows: the clever, the industrious, the lazy, and the stupid. Each officer always possesses two of these qualities. Those who are clever and industrious I appoint to the General Staff. Use can, under certain circumstances, be made of those who are stupid and lazy. The man who is clever and lazy qualifies for the highest leadership po ..read more

In this special All American Week episode of the podcast, Chloe Gavin joins Joe to discuss the recently published Gavin at War: The WWII diary of Lieutenant General James M. Gavin.  Chloe shares why she chose to publish her father’s deeply personal journal and why leaders today can benefit from reading it. They also talk about the legacy of the 82nd Airborne Division, leadership lessons from Gavin’s diary, and why leaders need to be okay with making mistakes.  Click here to listen to the episode About Gavin at War Lieutenant General James Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne D ..read more

by Nikiay Comer  Graduation week is here and you’ve felt a wave of emotions in anticipation of its arrival. You’re looking forward to accepting your diploma in front of your family and friends who have traveled far and wide to support you on this special day. You will soon be a commissioned officer.  For some, commissioning is a time to be joyful and excited about what the future brings. For you and others, commissioning brings excitement from completing a milestone but also uncertainty—anxiety—about the future. You’re not sure if you’re ready. Although you have put so much hard wor ..read more

by Marc Meybaum, Cole Cannon, & Brian Martinez You stand in the hot sun of a motor pool staring down at a sea of equipment layouts. You have been desperately trying to manage the ream of property book pages as you conduct your change of command equipment inventories. You have been acclimating to your new unit over the past few weeks and are very eagerly trying to earn their trust.  You have reached a decision point, the equipment in front of you is in no way serviceable.  Your outgoing counterpart informs you this is exactly how they received it and it will never be needed. Your ..read more

Kevin Kelly, author of Excellent Advice for Living: Wisdom I’d Wish I’d Known Earlier joins Joe to discuss his latest book and share the lessons he’s learned from over seven decades on this planet. Kevin and Joe cover everything from finding lost car keys to goal-setting to the importance of writing our thoughts down to understand what we think.   Click here to listen to the episode About Kevin Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first seven years. His newest book is Excellent Advice ..read more

by  Brandon Eans As a career manager, I think daily about the advice my former First Sergeant offered me over eight years ago: “You are your best career manager”.  I was a First Lieutenant serving as an Executive Officer for a Field Artillery Battery. At the end of the workday, I would occasionally sit with the First Sergeant in his office where we would discuss the operations of the Battery. As a young officer, I valued this time as it was an opportunity to gain mentorship from the most senior Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) within the Battery. On this particular day, my First Serge ..read more

by Nicholas A. Rich I recently spent a weekend with a good friend. After the long weekend, I received a message from him thanking me for being both a friend, and a “thought partner.”  I met him in the Army in 2015, and we deployed to Iraq together in December 2016. He has been a pace-setter in every organization he’s been a part of, including nowadays as a civilian in Washington D.C. After the weekend, I reflected on our friendship and took a moment to appreciate a connection that I wouldn’t have had without the Army guiding me to it. Throughout our friendship this thought partner has he ..read more

Dustin Diefenderfer, the CEO of MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab, joins Joe to discuss ways in which individuals can improve their overall performance through proper fitness programming, nutrition, and sleep.  Dustin also shares his leadership lessons from growing a company, while also balancing his mental well-being and his commitment to his family. Click here to listen to the episode Meet Dustin MTNTOUGH Fitness Lab was founded by Dustin Diefenderfer to help individuals become more mentally tough, believing this is the key for them to reach their specific personal and professional goals. “Ever sin ..read more