Intentional Leader with Cal Walters

I'm really excited to bring you an interview with Jon Gordon! Jon Gordon's best-selling books and talks have inspired readers and audiences around the world. His principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and non-profits. He is the author of 20 books including 8 best-sellers: The Energy Bus, The Carpenter, Training Camp, You Win in the Locker Room First, The Power of Positive Leadership, The Power of a Positive Team, The Coffee Bean and his latest Stay Positive. Jon and his tips have been featured on The Today Show, CNN, CNBC, The Golf Channel, Fox and Friends and in numerous magazines and newspapers. His clients include The Los Angeles Dodgers, Campbell's Soup, Dell, Publix, Southwest Airlines, Miami Heat, The Los Angeles Rams, Snapchat, BB&T Bank, Clemson Football, Northwestern Mutual, West Point Academy and more. Jon is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a Masters in Teaching from Emory University. He and his training/consulting company are passionate about developing positive leaders, organizations and teams. For full show notes, visit www.calwalters.me

Zebrina has spent nearly two decades designing impactful and transformative educational experiences for senior executives in the defense sector for the Department of Defense, U.S. military services, and the private sector. As a civilian with no relationship with the military prior to her tenure at an education and research non-profit, the Institute for Defense and Business, she developed a close understanding and appreciation of military leadership and how the military invests in their greatest weapon and asset, their people. After spending her career educating the government and military about business and innovation, she saw value in flipping the script to bring the best in military to the nonmilitary world. As a former battalion commander and combat veteran, Jason believes that the military experience is part of a larger journey to prepare leaders for a more impactful and meaningful life beyond the military. He has more than 25 years' experience building, managing, and developing high performance teams, including negotiating policy measures with international partners at NATO Headquarters in Belgium. Jason is also a Certified Professional Coach, master practitioner for the Energy Leadership Index assessment, and founder of Ordinary Hero Coaching helping military professionals bridge the civil-military cultural gap.

A legend and leader in the hotel world, Horst Schulze's teachings and vision have reshaped the concepts of service and hospitality across industries. Mr. Schulze's professional life began more than 65 years ago as a server's assistant in a German resort town. Throughout the years he worked for both Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels Corporation before becoming one of the founding members of The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company in 1983. There Mr. Schulze created the operating and service standards that have become world famous. During his tenure at The Ritz Carlton, Mr. Schulze served as President and COO responsible for the $2 billion operations worldwide. It was under his leadership that The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company became the first service-based company to be awarded the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award — twice. In 1991, Mr. Schulze was recognized as "corporate hotelier of the world" by HOTELS magazine. In 1995, he was awarded the Ishikawa Medal for his personal contributions to the quality movement. In 1999, Johnson & Wales University gave him an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree in Hospitality Management. Most recently, Mr. Schulze has been honored as a "Leader in Luxury" by Travel Agent magazine and its sister publication Luxury Travel Advisor. After leaving The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, Mr. Schulze went on to found The Capella Hotel Group. This luxury hotel company managed some of the most elite properties worldwide, and gave Mr. Schulze the opportunity to further define the luxury hotel industry, receiving countless awards and recognitions. Today, Mr. Schulze serves on various boards and acts as a consultant across industries. In his book, Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise, he captures a lifetime of wisdom on life and leadership. You can connect with Mr. Schulze on his website - HorstSchulze.com. His book, Excellence Wins, is available wherever books can be purchased. Additional leadership content can be purchased and viewed at NeedToLead.com where the content can be licensed for a larger audience.

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."

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.

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/

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/

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.

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!

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