We used to say in the army if you’re not in the best unit, what are you doing to make it the best? It’s one of those questions that didn’t need a response. It was meant to get you thinking, what am I doing to fix the problem? See, all units have issues. They may be small or big, but they’re there. You can sit idle and just let nature takes its course. Hell, it may not even be “your problem.” But as a leader, you must step up and attempt to implement a solution. At a minimum, you have to have a conversation with other leaders and address the situation. Where am I getting at with this? I’ve been out of the active Army for 26 months and I’ve been sitting, somewhat idle, while in the presence of a huge problem. And you know what, it’s time for a change.

The Timeline

Before I address the issue, it’s only fair I give you a timeline of how I got to where I am. I won’t go into much detail about any particular event. Eventually, I will break down the timeline to answer any lingering questions.

I enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 2006. I spent the next 13 years and 11 months serving our fine nation. I was blessed to meet some incredible people and amazing leaders. In late 2019 I was at the perpetual fork in the road: go left and stay in the army or go right and ETS? I choose right. I started my terminal leave in February 2020 and started my new career in the supply chain as a logistics coordinator for a very reputable company in Houston, Texas. Now, if you remember February 2020 is around the time COVID-19 was knocking on our front door in the continental United States. Like thousands of companies across the world, my company reacted by laying people off. And as the saying goes, last one in, first one out. Just like that, I was laid off.

I spent the next two months laid off and trying to figure out what the hell I was going to do. I was contemplating returning to active duty as I was having no luck in my job search. Eventually, I was able to land a job as a heavy equipment operator at a landfill. I was there for a year when an unforeseen life event caused me to pack up and move up north to Wisconsin.

For the past 12 months, I’ve been working as a warehouse associate. That’s just a professional way of saying a guy that operates a forklift in a warehouse.

The Problem

In the 26 months that I’ve been out of the army, I’ve had three jobs across two states. While they were very different jobs they had one similarity: lack of leadership. I can see how to a lot of you, this may not be an issue. In fact, you may never have thought about leadership. But to me, this is a very big deal. Again, I spent 13 years and 11 months in the U.S. Army. It is the army’s business to create and develop leaders (amongst other things). The concept of leadership is instilled in you from basic training and is carried on throughout your whole career. So now, here’s a veteran with over a dozen years of service, 11 of which were in bonafide leadership roles, and I’m out in the wild for the first time since 2006.

I’m introduced to senior vice presidents, supervisors, foremen, managers, and leads. What do these titles have in common? They’re all leadership roles. With those roles come certain expectations. However, those expectations are not being met. So I wonder to myself, what is going on? Is this really happening? Yes. Yes, it is. It drives me crazy. I think of all the leaders I had. Leaders that lead by example. Leaders that would hold your feet to the fire when you weren’t performing to standard. Leaders that would mentor you and show you how it was done. And now, none of that. It was the total opposite. Figure it out for yourself. Do as I say, not as I do. Now, don’t get me wrong. Not every “leader” in the army is performing as they should. There will always be those that slip through the cracks. In fact, many will argue that I slipped through the cracks. I’ll elaborate more on that later on.

The Solution

So what am I doing to make my unit the best unit? How am I contributing to the solution? Leadership development. In the army, there was a very specific process to becoming a leader. It started as a young soldier and you were always developing with every new rank that you achieved or with every new position that you held. Because it’s the army’s business to develop leaders in order to win wars, you have to be methodical about this process. Not to mention, this process has been around for hundreds of years. So you can see how it can be challenging to implement change in an organization that’s not used to it. How will I do it?

What I decided to do is create this blog. This blog will go along with the resurgence of my YouTube channel (more on the channel later on). I will provide leadership development for those that want to adopt leadership characteristics and become leaders. I will share lessons learned throughout my military career and life in general.

Look, I’m not saying that I’m the subject matter expert on leadership. I was never that hot-shot leader. I was never the name that came to mind when thinking of the best NCOs in the unit. But, I was fortunate enough in my army career to serve with some of the best leaders. And guess what, I took notes. I paid attention. I may not always have applied those principles, but I knew them. So this is MY solution. This is how I answer, what am I doing to fix it? By attempting to teach. Again, this is not the be-all and end-all of leadership. This is just a tool.

Target Audience

Obviously, this won’t be forced upon anyone. This will be for those that legitimately want to become a better version of themselves. Me included. Civilians, veterans, or even those that are currently serving. We can all learn more.