One of the first things you learn in the military is to pay attention to what's happening around you. Not just what's directly in front of you, but the entire environment. Who's there? What's changed? What doesn't look right? Where are the threats? Where are the opportunities? What's normal, and what's suddenly different? We call
There are few things the military teaches better than how to carry weight. Sometimes literally. You learn pretty quickly that if something is on the packing list, it goes in the ruck. You carry what the mission requires. You get stronger. You get comfortable being uncomfortable. Eventually, carrying a heavy load becomes part of who
One of the fastest ways to lose a fight is to refuse to adapt to the terrain. You wouldn’t use the same tactics in the mountains of Afghanistan that you’d use in the streets of Baghdad. You wouldn’t approach a permissive environment the same way you’d approach a hostile one. You wouldn’t plan a mission
One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is this: “One day, I won’t be afraid anymore.” We convince ourselves that confidence is the absence of fear. That successful people don’t experience doubt. That elite performers wake up every morning ready to charge the hill without hesitation. But after serving in Special Forces, leading businesses,
One of the biggest mistakes I see veterans make after leaving the military is announcing that the civilian workplace is broken. "It's inefficient." "Nobody communicates." "People don't take ownership." "Why does every decision take so long?" If you've ever found yourself saying those things, you're not alone. I said them too. But after years of
This week I had the privilege of spending several days training Special Operations personnel. Every time I do, I walk away with the same thought: Corporate America still doesn’t fully understand the caliber of people leaving our military. I’m not talking about patriotism or thanking someone for their service. I’m talking about capability. The men
One of the most unsettling moments in a military career isn't stepping onto a battlefield. It isn't graduating from Selection. It isn't changing duty stations. It's the day someone stops calling you by your rank. For years, your identity is reinforced every single day. You wear it on your chest. It's announced before your name.
Every week, someone tells me the same thing. "Scott, the project is failing." Nope. The project isn't failing. The decisions being made around the project are. That may sound harsh, but it matters because you can't fix a project if you're blaming the wrong thing. Projects don't wake up one morning and decide to go
If you ask ten people to define a project, you’ll probably get ten different answers. Some will tell you it’s a schedule. Others will point to a Gantt chart. Someone else will say it’s a budget. A few will start talking about Agile, Scrum, Kanban, or whatever methodology is trending in your organization this week.
One of the hardest transitions veterans make has nothing to do with finding a job. It has everything to do with learning how to introduce themselves again. For years, your identity was clear. Your uniform told people who you were. Your rank communicates experience. Your badges reflected the schools you completed. Your tabs represented years
