Dave Berke: "The Need to Lead" - Former Top Gun Instructor & F-35 Commander on Why Every Problem is a Leadership Problem ✈️

Former Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Dave Berke shares his journey from Top Gun instructor to F-35 squadron commander to combat veteran fighting alongside Navy SEALs in Ramadi.

Now a leadership instructor at Echelon Front with Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, Dave reveals lessons from his new book "The Need to Lead" - the third in the Extreme Ownership series.

What You'll Learn:

• Why every problem is a leadership problem (and how that empowers you to solve it)

• The difference between extreme ownership and preemptive ownership

• Why "someone's gonna do it, it might as well be you" changes everything

• How to lead when you're leading your equals and peers

• Why good leadership must outlast the leader

• The power of being a leader who listens first

Key Quote:

"Someone's going to do it, it might as well be you. Every person needs to lead in order to succeed, no matter the environment." - Dave Berke

Timestamps:

🛩️ 00:00 - The Star Wars moment that sparked a fighter pilot dream

🛩️ 08:15 - Mom's powerful advice: "Someone's gonna do it, might as well be you"

🛩️ 15:30 - Growing up in Marine Corps town: El Toro flight path childhood

🛩️ 22:45 - First time behind the controls and the road to Top Gun

🛩️ 28:20 - Only Marine to fly both F-22 Raptor and F-35B Lightning

🛩️ 35:40 - Mom watching his first F-35B vertical landing - full circle moment

🛩️ 42:15 - Becoming a Top Gun instructor: Leading your peers

🛩️ 48:30 - Humble, credible, approachable: The ultimate teaching framework

🛩️ 55:20 - Leaving the cockpit for combat on the ground in Ramadi

🛩️ 62:45 - Fighting alongside Jocko and Leif's SEAL Team in 2006

🛩️ 68:30 - The dichotomy: Coming home to San Diego after losing a Marine

🛩️ 75:10 - Reconnecting with Jocko and Leif to join Echelon Front

🛩️ 82:40 - Writing the third book in the Extreme Ownership series

🛩️ 88:15 - Every problem is a leadership problem (and every solution is too)

🛩️ 94:20 - Preemptive ownership: Solving problems before they happen

🛩️ 101:30 - The leader as listener: Why talking less makes you more effective

🛩️ 107:45 - Good leadership outlasts the leader - you don't pick when you leave

🛩️ 114:20 - Everyone is a leader: Why title and rank don't matter

🛩️ 120:15 - The brutal truth about writing: First drafts are humbling

🛩️ 125:30 - Final lesson: Leadership is a skill anyone can learn

• Book: "The Need to Lead" by Dave Berke - Available October 2024

Third book in the Extreme Ownership series following "Extreme Ownership" and "The Dichotomy of Leadership"

Connect with Dave Berke:

• Instagram: @DavidRBerke

• Company: Echelon Front (with Jocko Willink & Leif Babin)

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Views expressed by guests do not necessarily reflect the views of the host.