THE LEADERSHIP BLOG
Making Deep Connections, Restoring Trust, & Leading from the Bottom Up
Relationships Before Transactions: What Makes Clients Loyal for the Long Haul?
https://youtu.be/mSvCmNGza4Q One of the challenges that we face today as rooftop leaders, whether we own our own business, or maybe we work in a corporation or a midsize company as leaders and we do sales or we're relationship managers, how do we keep our clients, our...
Making Human Connections: How Do I Overcome Skepticism?
https://youtu.be/jtrkpZ8jYgg When you think about a tough negotiation or a tough client, the first thing is you've got to make a human connection. If you just roll in with the agenda, if you just roll in with the transaction, if you're just rolling with the PowerPoint...
Being Present: What if People Don’t Pay Attention?
https://youtu.be/ZYBjDL9KQPw "Scott, I totally get the need to own the room, but what if people don't pay attention to me? What if people look at me like I don't have the rank or title necessary to put out the kind of ideas and innovation that I think I have to offer?...
Injured Military Veterans Play Wheelchair Rugby with Civilian Peers
This article originally appeared on Viewers to Volunteers U.S. Army Special Operations combat veteran Sua Tuimaleliifano was severely injured during a firefight in southern Afghanistan in 2007. He kept fighting in the war, unaware of a broken neck and...
How to Connect As If Your Life Depended On It | Part 2
PART 2 Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we're all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories. ~ Alan Kay, Hewlett Packard Executive In my last blog post I introduced you to the high-stakes environment of the Green Beret,...
How To Connect As If Your Life Depended On It
PART 1 True persuasion only occurs after you have built an emotional rapport with your listeners and have gained their trust. ~ Carmine Gallo, Talk like Ted Kandahar Province, November, 2004 "I wonder if this guy is going to kill me?!" I smiled pleasantly and...
Leadership Skills Last A Lifetime When You’re Dad First, Buddy Second
I like talking about my kids, and all the joys of parenting that go with it...and I especially like talking about it with my tribe. The reason? Because you guys get it. You are so tuned into the fact that our kids are the greatest legacy we have in this world. You...
Learning to Lead Green Beret Style
Leadership in America is changing everyday. Trust is eroding and is often replaced with conflict. Traditional leader mindset and skills are just no longer relevant. My Partner, Scotty Neil and I have formed a company known as S2 that trains today's leaders in a...
Watch this video about my transition
I knew the transition from the military to civilian life was going to be challenging. So I set a plan prior to retiring from the U.S. Army to create a business that allowed me to achieve financial freedom. I made mistakes all the time -- and I still do, everyday. But...
The power of connection
A funny thing happened to me on the way to work in LA last week. I made an introduction that was strategic. It made the world a better place. Want to hear about it? Well, let's back up first. Ever hear of Steven Pressfield? He is the author of Gates of Fire, the...
Paddle Dammit!!!
A few years ago, I was white water rafting with some friends on the Nantahala River in North Georgia. This river is pretty fast and has rapids which can gain your respect very quickly. From the beginning of our adventure, one guy in the front of the boat got us off to...
Stay away from my brain dude.
Creepy. That's the only way to describe it. Creepy. I was at a conference a few weeks ago when a guy walked up to me with a used-car salesman grin, and a very obvious personal agenda in mind. He shook my hand vigorously and proclaimed: "Hey, you really know your stuff...
The power of DISCOMFORT
I drive my wife crazy. A few weeks ago, I finished a book called Game Changers. It's a book on how to go local to defeat violent extremism that will come out this summer. It took over two years to research and write. It was exhausting on not just me...but my wife, my...