Just Like You: Mandy Hickson was one of the first women to fly the Tornado in the Royal Air Force, and flew combat missions over Iraq and Afghanistan. I talk to her about what motivated her as an ambassador today, what she worked through in her time in the RAF, the power and challenge of teams, and what she thought of the new Top Gun! And we laugh a lot. Hope you enjoy!

LtGen Reynolds talks candidly about leading Marines from an unexpected challenge, to combat deployments and finally commanding the newly formed Marine Corps Cyber. Sharing what inspired her from an early age, to what leaders need to do to ensure the best results in today’s world, this conversation is one for every leader, but come with a notepad. You won’t want to miss, or forget, a thing.

CPT Shaye Haver and CPT Kristen Greist are the two first women to graduate as U.S. Army Rangers and become Infantry Officers. In this conversation, they offer inspiration and practical takeaways for all of us. Though both West Pointers, Haver and Greist came from different backgrounds and motivations. In this interview we talk about what directed them toward the unique opportunity and challenge of Ranger School, what they did to prepare, and how they faced failure and disappointment. This opportunity to hear from both exceptional leaders is not one to miss.

Deidre Paknad is the Co-founder and CEO of Workboard, Inc. She has founded and led three tech startups, acquired companies and been acquired, and led a high-growth business as an executive at IBM for several years. Deidre has over a dozen patents and has twice been inducted into the Smithsonian Institution for innovation. Goldman Sachs named her one of the 100 most intriguing entrepreneurs of 2019. In this episode, Deidre and I talk about how tragedy shaped her life and work, her biggest challenge with grit (it might surprise you), what she learns from sports, and how taking care of your people has been the same and different over the last few years.

Gretchen Evans' 27 year Army career as a Sergeant Major ended with major injuries after a mortar attack in Afghanistan, but despite the deep difficulty in her change of mission, she hasn’t slowed down. Join us as she shares her journey through severe injury and losing her purpose, to finding a new purpose in the most unexpected challenge, founding Team Unbroken, an adaptive adventure racing team. She also shares her personal rule for successes or failures, which I’m adopting as well, and which you won’t want to miss.

Jenn Donahue is a Ph.D., a civil engineer, a STEM advocate, and served for decades in uniform in the US Navy until she was the most senior woman civil engineer. She has built bridges and roads from Ketchikan to Kabul. Led small teams and large organizations and taught at the university level. From all of these experiences, she comes away with a deep understanding of genuine and authentic leadership and how to get things done, no matter how difficult the task. Join me as I talk to Jen about the hardest lesson she learned in those decades of work and what she'd recommend to any leader starting out or finding themselves stuck.

Adeline Gray is a two time Olympic freestyle wrestler, and a six time world champion, as well as a ferocious advocate for sports equality for women. She shares the mindset of a champion, how she focuses each day for success, and the perspective that gets her through resistance.

Air Force Colonel Kim Campbell has led from her single seat A-10 over Baghdad to a wing command of over a hundred, sharing lessons of the power of preparation, authenticity and making the hard calls.

Admiral Stosz shares stories and lessons from a 40-year career of firsts, from commanding an ice breaker to leading the Coast Guard Academy, and talks about the importance of battle rhythm, diversity, and the necessity of optimism.

The Grit Factor: Re-imagining grit as part of the whole person in a life that matters.