A former general officer in the U.S. Army, Dana Pittard earned the Hero Award for Suicide Prevention from the Matthew Silverman Memorial Foundation in 2017. The following year, Dana Pittard became one of Savoy Magazine's Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America for his leadership in the defense industry as vice president at Allison Defense. Alongside leading Allison Defense into five straight years of increasing revenue and growth since joining the company in 2015, Dana Pittard took an executive financial management course at the Wharton School of Business and a corporate executive leadership course at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Previously, he attended Harvard University as a senior fellow for a year. He earned a master's degree from the School of Advanced Military Studies (SAMS), and a bachelor's from the United States Military Academy. He has recently held interviews across national major news networks and is a regular contributor on CNN, Fox News, PBS, CBS, ABC and NPR on race relations, diversity and inclusion, military issues, Middle East policy, ISIS, and veteran’s issues. Pittard has been published and interviewed in the Washington Post, New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy Magazine, Military Times, Task & Purpose, Politico, Insider, and many other news outlets. Dana Pittard has also become known for his writing on military subjects. He coauthored a highly acclaimed book titled “Hunting the Caliphate - America’s War on ISIS” in 2019. He was a contributing author to the book, “By Their Deeds Alone - America’s Combat Commanders on the Art of War.” He also wrote articles such as “The Armor Task Force in Mountainous Terrain,””13th Century Mongol Operational Art,” and “Genghis Khan & 13th Century Airland Battle.”

Intentional Living and Leadership with Cal Walters

#74: Dana Pittard — Fitness, Mental Health, & Taking Risks as a Leader

Join our first LIVE interview on Tuesday, September 28th at 7:30 pm (ET) with Major General (Ret.) Dana Pittard.  We will be broadcasting live on Facebook and YouTube.  Join here! Taylor Justice is the Co-Founder and President of Unite Us, Unite Us standardizes how health and social care providers communicate and track outcomes together. They align all stakeholders from healthcare, government, and the community around a shared goal to improve health. Their proven infrastructure provides both a person-centered care coordination platform and a hands-on community engagement process; they work hand-in-hand with communities to ensure services are seamlessly delivered to the people who need them most. In March 2021, Unite Us raised its largest funding to date, a $150 million Series C round, to value the technology company at more than $1.6 billion. Taylor began his entrepreneurial journey shortly after he left the military in 2007. He is often evangelizing the need for collaboration technology within most industries. Taylor holds academic allegiance to West Point and Columbia (MBA). He enjoys the company of innovative thinkers and witty minds, has an abnormal obsession with documentaries, and loves reading the histories of successful leaders. Taylor lives in New York City with his wife Meghan.

#73: Taylor Justice — On Building and Scaling a High Impact Business

Carey Nieuwhof is a best-selling author, leadership expert, podcaster, attorney and non-profit leader. As the host of the top-rated Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast and curator of one of the most widely-read leadership blogs, Carey is uniquely positioned to help leaders thrive in all areas of their life. His content is accessed over 1.5 million times a month. Carey's 20+ years in leadership are heavily focused on teamwork, leadership in change and personal growth. In his keynotes, he explores the challenges and provides solutions for leaders at all levels of an organization. His books include Didn't See It Coming: Overcoming the Seven Greatest Challenges That No One Expects But Everyone Experiences, Lasting Impact: 7 Powerful Conversations That Will Help Your Church Grow, Leading Change Without Losing It and Parenting Beyond Your Capacity, co-authored with Reggie Joiner. His newest book, At Your Best: How to Get Time, Energy & Priorities Working in Your Favor, releases September 2021. Carey and his wife Toni live north of Toronto, Ontario and have two grown sons. In his spare time, you'll catch him barbecuing on his Big Green Egg, cycling or boating.   For show notes, visit https://calwalters.me/ 

#72: Carey Nieuwhof — How to Avoid Burnout and Be At Your Best

As the founder of People Launching, John Fooshee spends his time launching others! He has coached over 300 people into their personal calling and consulted over 150 organizations. John, and his associate Elaine Webb, are also the co-founders of Gospel Enneagram, a spiritual assessment and training initiative.  John is also the Executive Pastor of Oak City Church in Raleigh, NC. He has been a pastor for twenty-five years and has started two churches. He has served in the Acts 29 Network since 2006 as a pastor, trainer of church planting coaches, coached church planters in three countries. He received his coach training from CoachNet in 2008 and has biblical studies degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary and King University.  He has been married to Lindsay for twenty-five years, has four kids and one daughter-in-law. For show notes, visit https://calwalters.me/

#71: John Fooshee — Enneagram for Leaders

A retired four-star general, Stan McChrystal is the former commander of US and International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) Afghanistan and the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He is best known for developing and implementing a comprehensive counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan, and for creating a cohesive counter-terrorism organization that revolutionized the interagency operating culture. Throughout his military career, Stan commanded a number of elite organizations, including the 75th Ranger Regiment. After 9/11 until his retirement in 2010, he spent more than 6 years deployed to combat in a variety of leadership positions. In June 2009, the President of the United States and the Secretary General of NATO appointed him to be the Commander of US Forces Afghanistan and NATO ISAF. His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries. On August 1, 2010 he retired from the US Army. Stan is a senior fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, where he teaches a course on Leadership. He also sits on the boards of Navistar International Corporation, Siemens Government Technology, and JetBlue Airways. He is a sought-after speaker, giving speeches on leadership to organizations around the country. In 2013, Stan published his memoir, My Share of the Task, which was a New York Times bestseller; and is an author of Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World, which was a New York Times bestseller in 2015. Stan also co-authored Leaders: Myth and Reality, a Wall Street Journal Bestseller based on the epochal Parallel Lives by Plutarch. A passionate advocate for national service and veterans’ issues, Stan is the Chair of the Board of Service Year Alliance. In this capacity, he advocates for a future in which a year of full-time service—a service year—is a common expectation and opportunity for all young Americans. Stan is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and the Naval War College. He also completed year-long fellowships at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Council on Foreign Relations.

#70: General (Ret.) Stan McChrystal — How to Lead Well in All Areas of Your Life

After graduating from West Point, Sarah Roberts served for five years in the Army. In those five years, Roberts served in Germany where she collaborated with both military and civilian professionals to handle garrison finance. Then, in 2009, she deployed to Iraq for 15 months. There, she helped establish three autonomous Iraqi finance offices while also working with the Iraqi government to improve its banking system. When Roberts left the Army in 2010, she charged hard into the civilian workforce, much as she had while in uniform. Her unique skillset and accomplishments led her to stints at Amazon, Nordstrom, Team Red, White, & Blue, and Microsoft. At each stop, Roberts’s work highlighted the important and lasting contributions that Veterans can make in the civilian workforce. She also advocated for her fellow Veterans, leading each of her employers to make better hiring connections with Veterans. At Amazon, Roberts helped create Veteran-based employment programs and marketing strategies that promoted Amazon as a preferred employer for military transition. During her time with Microsoft, she focused on establishing and improving an internal networking program for Veterans. And at Nordstrom and Team Red, White, & Blue, she championed employment and expanded accessibility opportunities for Veterans. She is now the head of Military and Veteran Programs for LinkedIn. In this position, she educates and encourages Veterans on using LinkedIn to expand their connections on the site. On this episode, we covered a lot of ground. We discuss what life was like at West Point as a female cadet, what she learned most from West Point, how she landed her current job at LinkedIn, how she gained over 100,000 followers on LinkedIn, how her view of leadership has changed, some wonderful examples of leadership she witnessed at Microsoft, and much more. During the episode, Sarah also coaches me on my LinkedIn profile!

#69: Sarah Roberts — On Networks, LinkedIn, and Authentic Leadership

For show notes, visit https://calwalters.me/  It is an honor and pleasure to welcome back Lieutenant General (Ret.) Robert Caslen, who recently served as the 29th President of the University of South Carolina. On this episode, General Caslen discusses his time at the University of South Carolina and recent controversy surrounding a speech he made at their graduation ceremony. General Caslen served 43 years in the United States Army. His military career culminated in 2018 as the 59th Superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. Under his direction as Superintendent, West Point was recognized as the number one public college in the Nation by Forbes Magazine and the number one public college by U.S. News and World Report. Through the establishment of Centers of Excellence at West Point, General Caslen connected the operational Army with West Point research and intellectual capital. He refined West Point’s leadership program by making professional ethics a priority and essential part of leadership and character development. He worked tirelessly to expand the diversity of cadets and faculty alike, and he dramatically expanded West Point’s minority and women populations to reflect the demographics of the Army that West Point’s graduates help lead. Working with the Director of Athletics, he revamped the athletic program, made it self-sustaining, and fielded 25 competitive intercollegiate teams. He created partnerships with the NCAA and Department of Defense to conduct research into preventing and treating concussions and traumatic brain injury that have led to significant improvements in prevention and care. He stood up the Army Cyber Institute to build expertise and Army leaders prepared for the new cyber fight. And, fulfilling a pledge he made soon after becoming Superintendent, he led a sweeping reversal of Army’s football program and developed a culture of excellence through winning with character, culminating in Army defeating Navy in 2016 for the first time in 14 years, and beating both Air Force and Navy in 2017 to win the Commander-in-Chief’s trophy for the first time in 21 years. Before becoming the West Point Superintendent, General Caslen served as the Chief of the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, where he served as the senior military commander in Iraq after the drawdown of U.S. and allied forces in 2011. Caslen held several other notable positions including commanding general of Multi National Division-North during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Chief of Staff of both the 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) and the 10th Mountain Division, where he also served as the Division’s Chief of Staff during Operation Enduring Freedom. He also has served in combat and overseas deployments in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm, Joint Task Force Bravo in Honduras, and Operation Uphold Democracy and the United Nations Mission in Haiti. Connect with Lieutenant General (Ret.) Caslen on his website or follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter

#68: Lieutenant General (Ret.) Bob Caslen — Taking Ownership of Mistakes as a Leader

I’m really excited to bring you this conversation with Dr. Gavin Adams. I first learned about Gavin when he appeared on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast to discuss his framework for delegation. Over the past 12 years, Gavin took over a struggling church with around 250 attendees and grew it to over 8,000 weekly attendees. On this episode, we dive into how he was able to turn around an underperforming organization, create a clear vision, and help it get to a better place. Of all the episodes we have done so far, this one has to be at the top in terms of practical takeaways for leaders—things you can begin implementing TODAY to improve your leadership and your organization. Gavin is a leadership coach and change agent focused on supporting leaders through change, transition, and transformation. In addition to encouraging leaders through Transformation Solutions, he is the lead pastor at Woodstock City Church, a campus location of North Point Ministries. Prior to ministry, Gavin spent over a decade in the marketplace working as a business strategy and marketing consultant. Over the past 15 years of ministry, Gavin helped plant a church, revitalize a church, pastor a rapidly growing church, lead a mega-church, and serve in a multi-site church. This breadth of experience gives Gavin a fundamental understanding of virtually every leadership challenge. Gavin has an M.B.A. from Georgia State University and a Masters of Theology and Doctorate of Ministry from Liberty University.

#67: Dr. Gavin Adams — Rethink Delegation to Grow More Leaders

General (US Army, Ret.) David H. Petraeus is a Partner and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in May 2013. He is also a member of the boards of directors of Optiv and FirstStream, a venture investor in more than 15 startups, and engaged in a variety of academic endeavors. Prior to joining KKR, General Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were in combat, including command of the Surge in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan. Following retirement from the military and after Senate confirmation by a vote of 94-0, he served as Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the global war on terror, the establishment of important Agency digital initiatives, and significant investments in the Agency’s most important asset, its human capital. General Petraeus graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy, and he is the only person in Army history to be the top graduate of both the demanding U.S. Army Ranger School and the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. He also earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. General Petraeus taught international relations and economics at the U.S. Military Academy in the mid-1980s, he was a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the Honors College of the City University of New York from 2013 through 2016, and he was for 6 years a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute, Co-Chairman of the Global Advisory Council of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Senior Vice President of the Royal United Services Institute, and a Member of the Trilateral Commission, as well as a member of the boards of the Atlantic Council, the Institute for the Study of War, and over a dozen veterans service organizations. Over the past 15 years, General Petraeus was named one of America’s 25 Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report, a runner-up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the Daily Telegraph man of the year, a Time 100 selectee, Princeton University’s Madison Medalist, and one of Foreign Policy magazine’s top 100 public intellectuals in three different years. General Petraeus has earned numerous honors, awards, and decorations, including four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, two NATO Meritorious Service Medals, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger Tab, and Master Parachutist and Air Assault Badges. He has also been decorated by 13 foreign countries and is believed to be the only person who, while in uniform, threw out the first pitch of a World Series game and did the coin toss for a Super Bowl. On this episode, General Petraeus and I discuss how to find the right mentors, how to cultivate a great mentor/mentee relationship, how to build a highly functioning team, what he looks for in team members, and much more!

#66: General (Ret.) David Petraeus — Mentors, Building a Team, & Culture Keys

Join the Intentional Leader Lab Facebook group.  Support our efforts to close the gap in leadership education by becoming a Patron!   Dee Ann Turner understands the importance of stewarding talent.  A 33-year veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc, she was selected as the company’s first female officer in 2001 and served as the Vice President, Talent and Vice President, Sustainability. During her long career, she worked closely with Chick-fil-A’s founder, S. Truett Cathy, and other key leaders as an architect of their organizational culture. Additionally, she led Staff Learning and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, and Culture and Engagement, and Talent Management. More recently, Dee Ann launched and led Chick-fil-A’s sustainability function focusing on a strategy to implement sustainable practices at the then $10.5 billion company. Dee Ann was instrumental in building and growing Chick-fil-A’s well-known culture and talent systems, responsible for selecting thousands of Chick-fil-A franchisees and corporate staff members. Under her leadership, Chick-fil-A enjoyed industry-leading employee engagement scores and became known for selecting the best talent in the hospitality business, maintaining a 95% retention rate for corporate staff and franchisees. She has also mentored and championed hundreds of people to discover their unique vocational callings and build careers they love. Today, she leads her own organization, Dee Ann Turner & Associates, LLC, focused on writing books and speaking to audiences both virtually and in-person on how to steward extraordinary talent. She's the author of two best-selling books covering the topics of corporate culture, customer service and career success. It’s My Pleasure and its newer version, Bet on Talent, teaches leaders how to find and keep extraordinary talent. Her latest book, Crush Your Career, teaches talent how to be extraordinary. Additionally, Dee Ann serves as Executive in Residence at High Point University teaching students career development skills and serving in the Access to Innovators Program. Through her books and keynotes, she leverages her experience to help you steward the extraordinary talent entrusted to you, whether you are responsible for creating a remarkable organizational culture or focused on building your own exceptional career. She is a graduate of Clayton State University with a degree in Management. She also completed executive education courses at Emory University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School. She is a 2009 alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. Dee Ann has been married to her husband, Ashley for 37 years and they are the parents of three grown sons. She has served numerous non-profit boards in the past including The Kenya Project, Eagle Ranch and Proverbs 31 Ministries. She has also served on the board of advisors for Lubbock Christian University and First Care Clinics. Currently, she serves on the board of advisors for Unconventional Business Network Women and the advisory board for the Pure Hope Foundation. When she is not traveling, she can often be found on her Peloton bike in her home outside of Atlanta or on her stand up paddleboard at Lake Hartwell in northeast Georgia. On this episode, we cover a lot of ground, including: The key ingredients to building an incredible culture like they have at Chick-fil-A How to activate the key elements of culture in your organization The story behind how Chick-fil-A created their meaningful purpose The differences between a rules-based culture and a principles-based culture The story behind “My Pleasure” at Chick-fil-A How Chick-fil-A keeps such a high level of employee engagement and high retention of talent After conducting thousands of interviews, how Dee Ann is able to choose the best talent Commonalities between those that make it through the highly competitive process to become a Chick-fil-A franchisee The one habit, routine, or ritual that has made the biggest positive difference for Dee Ann Her top marriage/relationship advice Her top parenting advice One leader she really admires Her top leadership book: Dr. Henry Cloud’s book, Integrity 

#65: Dee Ann Turner — The Secret Sauce of Chick-fil-A Culture

The views expressed on this podcast and page are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or endorsement of the US Army, DoD, or the US Government. Join the Intentional Leader Lab Facebook group.  Support our efforts to close the gap in leadership education by becoming a Patron!   Brigadier General (BG) James "Pat" Work graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1995 and was commissioned a Lieutenant of Infantry. He currently serves as the Deputy Commanding General for Support of the 82nd Airborne Division. His initial assignments were rifle platoon leader, and later heavy weapons platoon leader, in 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He then served as rifle platoon leader and Headquarters and Headquarters Company executive officer in 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Following the Infantry Officers Advanced Course, BG Work commanded Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He subsequently served as the S3 Air Operations Officer and commander, Company C, 2d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Between 2002 and 2005, he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan six times with 2d Ranger Battalion. Following the Command and General Staff Officers Course, BG Work reported to 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He deployed to Iraq with the Red Falcons for 15 months between 2006 to 2007. He then served as Aide de Camp to the 20th Secretary of the Army from 2008 until 2009. In 2010, BG Work deployed to Afghanistan with a Special Operations Task Force, serving in Kabul as the Task Force Commander's liaison officer to Commander, ISAF-Joint Command. In 2011, BG Work took command of 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), leading the battalion in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013. BG Work reported to the Joint Staff in 2013, serving with the J3 Directorate's Deputy Director for Regional Operations where he was Orders Branch Chief and SecDef Orders Book Briefer from 2014 to 2015. He commanded 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, from 2016 to 2018, guiding a portion of the coalition adviser effort in Iraq and Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. He served as Executive Officer to the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army from 2018 to 2019, followed by service as the Military Deputy Director for Program Analysis and Evaluation, Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8. BG Work attended Watsonville High School in Watsonville, California. He has been married to the former Mara Leigh Shwedo for 20 years. They have two children, JP (18) and Sally Ann (16). BG Work’s hobbies include reading, enjoying football, and working out. BG Work earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Marine Corps War College. On this episode, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss lessons Brigadier General Work learned from playing football, his views of mission command (an organizational leadership philosophy in the military), how you build competent people, the power of mantras (including many of BG Work’s life and leadership mantras), lessons he’s learned from combat, and much more!

#64: Brigadier General Pat Work — Mantras to Center Your Leadership

Today, I’m really excited to have Ben Kotwica join the show for Episode 63! Ben is a West Point graduate, former Apache helicopter pilot, and former NFL coach for the New York Jets, the Washington Football Team, and the Atlanta Falcons. On this episode he shares with us what makes a really great coach, the difference between the good and great players at the NFL level, his experience with Coach Rex Ryan, and some awesome habits that he has picked up along the way. Please let us know what you think! Would you like to join a community to help you grow as a leader?  Consider joining the Intentional Leader Lab on Facebook.  We will help each other solve problems, work through friction points, share resources, and grow as leaders!   For more episodes, visit our website!  

#63: Ben Kotwica (NFL Coach) — On Coaching, Excellence, and Resilience

I’m really excited to have Greg McKeown back on the show.  If you want to listen to my first interview of him, check out Episode 39.  Greg  is the author of the new book Effortless: Make It Easier to Do What Matters Most and a previous book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, which hit The New York Times bestseller list and has sold more than a million copies. Like many of you, that book has had a tremendous impact on me.  He is also a speaker and the host of the popular podcast What’s Essential.  Greg McKeown has dedicated his career to discovering why some people and teams break through to the next level—and others don’t. Greg is the CEO of McKeown Inc. Clients include Adobe, Apple, Google, Facebook, Pixar, Salesforce.com, Symantec, Twitter, VMware and Yahoo!. His writing has appeared or been covered by The New York Times, Fast Company, Fortune, HuffPost, Politico, and Inc. Magazine. He is among the most popular bloggers for the Harvard Business Review and LinkedIn’s Influencers group: averaging a million views a month. McKeown has been interviewed on numerous television and radio shows including NPR, NBC, FOX, and as a regular guest on The Steve Harvey Show. Entrepreneur voted his interview at Stanford University the #1 Must-See Video on Business, Creativity and Success. Essentialism was voted by Goodread as the #1 Leadership and Success Book to Read in a Lifetime. McKeown is an accomplished public speaker. He has spoken to hundreds of audiences around the world including in Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, England, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan and Singapore. Highlights include speaking at SXSW, interviewing Al Gore at the Annual Conference of the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland and receiving a personal invitation from Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway, to speak to his Annual Innovation Conference. McKeown challenges conventional wisdom in a unique and engaging style from the first moment to the last instant. As the event organizer at Greater Public said after McKeown addressed their 1,000-person conference, “I have been part of this event for 16 years and McKeown is the best speaker we have ever had!” McKeown is an active Social Innovator. Serving as a Board Member for Washington D.C. policy group Resolve and as a mentor with 2 Seeds, a non-profit incubator for agricultural projects in Africa. He has also been a speaker at non-profit groups including The Kauffman Fellows, Net Impact and Stanford University: he recently gave back to Stanford University by co-creating a popular class called, Designing Life, Essentially. He serves as a Young Global Leader for the World Economic Forum.  He recently moderated a session at the “Summer Davos” in China called, “Unpacking Social Innovation Models for Maximum Impact”, served as a panelist at the “Sharpening Your Creative Edge” working session at the Forum. Prior to this, McKeown collaborated in the research and writing of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter and worked for Heidrick & Struggles’ Global Leadership Practice assessing senior executives. Originally from London, England, McKeown now lives in California with his wife, Anna, and their four children. He did his graduate work at Stanford University.

#62: Greg McKeown — Make it Easier to Do What Matters

It’s truly an honor to bring General (Ret.) Joseph Votel on the Intentional Leader podcast for episode 61. On this episode, he gives us a masterclass on personal management and organizational leadership. General Votel currently serves as President and CEO of Business Executives for National Security (BENS) – a national, nonprofit composed of senior business and industry executives who volunteer their time and expertise to assist the U.S. national security community. He retired in 2019 after 39 years of military service. His last assignment was as the commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM) from March 2016 to March 2019. As CENTCOM commander, Votel oversaw the United States' continued War on Terrorism in the Middle East, particularly the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve's fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant terror organization, which rose to prominence in 2014. General Votel officially retired on March 28, 2019, five days after the decisive Battle of Baghuz Fawqani, which saw the territorial collapse of the Islamic State in Syria. Before that, he served as commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Votel's initial assignments were to the 3rd Infantry Division in Germany, where he served as a rifle platoon leader, executive officer, battalion adjutant, and rifle company commander. Following this tour, he was assigned to Headquarters, Allied Forces Southern Europe – Naples, Italy, and the NATO Peace Implementation Force (IFOR) in Sarajevo. He commanded the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry (Light) at Fort Drum, New York, and afterward, he commanded the 1st Ranger Battalion. Later he commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment, during Operation Enduring Freedom. On 19 October 2001, Votel led 200 Rangers from 3rd Battalion, who parachuted towards an airfield south of Kandahar in an operation known as Operation Rhino and attacked several Taliban targets. As a general officer, Votel served in the Pentagon as the Director of the Army and Joint Improvised Explosive Device (IED) Defeat Task Force and subsequently as the Deputy Director of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization established under the Deputy Secretary of Defense. He also served as the Deputy Commanding General (Operations), 82nd Airborne Division / CJTF-82, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan, and was subsequently assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). He next served as the Commanding General of the Joint Special Operations Command. On this episode, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss the leaders he admires the most, some of the most important leadership lessons he learned from working with Secretary Jim Mattis, General (Ret.) Stanley McChrystal, and Admiral (Ret.) William McRaven, what he most looks for when hiring someone to join his team or organization, what is most unique about the Special Operations community that he has worked in for so long, how he stayed sharp over his 40 year career, and a lightning round of questions at the end. For more episodes, visit https://calwalters.me/ 

#61: General (Ret.) Joseph Votel — On Confidence, Habits, and Culture

My dear friend, Rajiv Srinivasan, is back by popular demand after inspiring all of us to read more on Episode 23. Rajiv is a Global Client Director at LinkedIn and the Chief Reading Officer at 99pages, which we get into on this episode. Rajiv was on the Dean’s List at West Point and graduated in the Top 5% of his class in 2008. He also earned an MS in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University and his MBA from Wharton.  His amazing wife Chelsea is also a Wharton graduate. After graduating from West Point in 2008, Rajiv deployed to Afghanistan as a platoon leader.  In Afghanistan, Rajiv did over 300 combat patrols and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and received the Combat Action Badge.  Rajiv transitioned out of the military in 2013 and moved to Silicon Valley, where he was part of the Founding Team at Morta Security, a cyber security company that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2013.  After Morta was acquired, Rajiv became a Enterprise & SLED Account Manager at MobileIron. In 2016, Rajiv became a Global Account Manager at VMWare. Rajiv is also an Eagle Scout, avid snow skier (you’ll hear him talk about a scary incident he had in Lake Tahoe), musician (he plays guitar, ukulele, piano, and is a vocalist), he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, has completed the NYC Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.  Rajiv has also been a contributor for the New York Times and TIME on military and veteran issues.  Rajiv is someone that has inspired me ever since we met at West Point in 2005.  In this interview, we dive into what Rajiv has been reading, his motivation for starting 99pages and what it is all about, his views on leadership, and we finish with a fun lightning round of questions. I really enjoyed this conversation, just like every conversation I have with Rajiv, and I think you will, too. 

#60: Rajiv Srinivasan — On Intellectual Humility and What Makes Great Leaders

Join this community to pursue personal growth and leadership excellence, to inspire others, and make a lasting impact on the world. Life is short, so let's make it count by living an intentional life. On this podcast, Cal Walters — an imperfect follower of Jesus, a husband, father, West Point graduate, former Infantry Officer, Army Ranger, combat veteran, lawyer, and Army JAG — passionately explores ways to live intentionally, make each day count, and lead with greater influence and impact. Cal firmly believes leadership matters, and this podcast will help you lead yourself and inspire others. Cal believes we each have a unique contribution to make to the world, and he wants to help you make yours! For show notes, visit https://www.calwalters.me/ Disclaimer: The views expressed on this podcast are those of the author and guests and do not reflect the official policy, position, or endorsement of the US Army JAG Corps, US Army, DoD, or the US Government.

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Intentional Living and Leadership with Cal Walters

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