Every once in a while in your career, you'll work for a leader whose nature simply inspires motivation and action. Colonel Eric Lopez is one of those leaders. He is passionate, candid, and committed to building the team. You can't help but get fired up when you listen to him speak, which you'll really sense in this interview.
Colonel Lopez just took command of the 3rd Recruiting Brigade and took a moment to share his thoughts on vision, leadership, and turning America's best citizens into Soldiers.
Lead well!
 
If you would like to show your support for The Military Leader Podcast, please leave a rating and comment in iTunes. Thank you so much for the very kind ratings and comments that many of you have left. I'm flattered to know that the podcast is making an impact!   The views expressed in this podcast do not officially represent the views of the US military or the United States Government.   The music for The Military Leader Podcast was composed by Iliya Ryakhovskiy, who made a custom piece for the podcast.

Colonel Eric Lopez - Creating a Vision Everyone Will Follow

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In this episode, we go behind the scenes to see how the Army selects its senior commanders and shapes talent for the future.
Colonel Bob O'Brien is the Director of the US Army's Command Assessment Program (CAP), which is the yearly selection crucible that Lieutenant Colonels, Colonels, and Sergeants Major must pass through to compete for command of the Army's battalions and brigades. Colonel O'Brien is an Infantry officer who has deployed multiple times and commanded at the O5 and O6 levels. He is a founding member of CAP, as well as an International Coaching Federation Certified Executive Coach.
We talk about the whiteboard origin story of the program, the scienced-based evaluation methods it incorporates, and the program's extensive effort to remove bias from the evaluators.
Colonel O'Brien also shares what leaders can do to prepare for their own assessment, so if you hope to attend CAP in the future, or if you are involved in any aspect of talent management for your team or company, then you definitely want to listen to the end.
You can connect with Bob O'Brien on LinkedIn. 
Follow the Army Command Assessment Program on LinkedIn and visit the website at https://talent.army.mil/cap/.
Find this and other episodes of The Military Leader Podcast at themilitaryleader.com/podcast/. 

Colonel Bob O'Brien - Behind the Scenes at the Army's Command Assessment Program

"If you bring a cell phone to NTC, you'll be found and targeted."
 
In this episode, we get an inside look at how the Army's National Training Center creates tough, realistic training rotations to ensure that Soldiers and units are ready to win the first fight.
 
Guest
Major General Curt Taylor is the Commanding General of the National Training Center (NTC) and Fort Irwin, California. NTC is the Army's premier training center and one of the three installations solely dedicated to making the Army's units and leaders ready for the next fight.
 
Episode Summary
In this episode, we discuss:

How NTC adapts its training rotations to account for the evolving character of war
What lessons to take away from the conflicts in Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabach, and Gaza
How NTC uses cell phone data to locate units during rotation
Why it is important for commanders to develop an instinct for opportunity and then act decisively to seize it
How leaders can succumb to information overload and how to avoid "paralysis by analysis"
What rotational units will experience in the environment of contested logistics
The unseen benefits of serving at the National Training Center

 
Take the Next Step

Put these lessons and insight into practice as you lead.
Pass this episode on your team for their own development. If you found it valuable, they will, too.
Share this conversation on social media for the other leaders in your network who will appreciate.

 
NTC YouTube Channels
https://youtube.com/@tactalks-operationsgroupntc?si=J5k48Xei7bP09mF4
https://youtube.com/@ntcupdate?si=DBZAqGcvceTyh3yM
 
Follow The Military Leader
Episode: www.themilitaryleader.com/podcast/taylor-ntc
Blog: www.themilitaryleader.com
Book: The Military Leader on Amazon
 
Major General Taylor's Biography
BG Curt Taylor graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in May 1994 and was commissioned as a lieutenant in the Armor branch.  Over the last twenty-five years, he has served in various command and staff positions in Armored, Cavalry, and Infantry formations up through brigade combat team.  His combat service includes two tours in Afghanistan and two tours in Iraq.
 
In 2010, MG Taylor commanded 3-66 AR in Grafenwoehr, GE and deployed with it to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.  Following battalion command, he served as the Brigade Senior Trainer at the JMRC in Hohenfels, GE.  Following senior service college, he served as the Director of the Commander's Initiatives Group at Fort Leavenworth focused on the development of innovative approaches to talent management and leader development across the Army.  In that capacity, he also served as the director of Strategic Assessment for the CSA 39 Transition Team in 2015.
 
From 2015 to 2017, MG Taylor commanded 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team at Fort Carson, Colorado which transformed during his command into a Reconnaissance and Security Brigade Combat Team and executed a series of exercises to demonstrate the ability of a Brigade Combat Team to perform the traditional roles of operational cavalry on the 21st Century battlefield.
 
Following Brigade Command, MG Taylor served as the Chief of Staff of Fort Riley Kansas and the 1st Infantry Division where he oversaw the deployment of multiple combat brigades to Europe and execution of a large-scale Warfighter exercise.
 
From June 2019 to April 2021, MG Taylor commanded the Army’s newest combat brigade, the 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade consisting of specially-selected and uniquely trained combat advisors oriented on the INDOPACOM area of operations. 
 
In April 2021, MG Taylor assumed command of the National Training Center and Fort Irwin. 
 
MG Taylor has two Masters Degrees in Security Studies.

MG Curt Taylor - Training for the Changing Character of War

The Army is radically changing its personnel and talent management systems and Major General JP McGee, head of the Army Talent Management Task Force, is in charge of making it happen.
From AIM 2.0 and the Battalion Command Assessment Program...to brevet promotions and direct commissioning, MG McGee gives an inside look at the major personnel and talent initiatives coming to the US Army. 
Stay connected to talent.army.mil for the latest on Army Talent Management.

Major General JP McGee - The Present & Future of Army Talent Management

Michael Bungay Stanier is an author, speaker, and innovative thinker in the world of coaching and leadership. His most popular book, The Coaching Habit, is a Wall Street Journal Bestseller and presents a powerful framework for helping leaders make meaningful connections by becoming more coachlike. 
In this conversation, he highlights how easy it is for leaders to jump straight into advice-giving and why this is a destructive habit to fall into. Michael encourages leaders to stay curious just a little bit longer and jump to advice-giving just a little more slowly.
Books by Michael Bungay Stanier:
The Coaching Habit
The Advice Trap
Do More Great Work
Links to references mentioned in the show:
Box of Crayons
David Marquet’s Turn The Ship Around!
The Habit Share App
Follow the Military on Twitter: @mil_LEADER
Like the Military Leader on Facebook: @MilitaryLeader
Want to hear a specific topic covered in the podcast? Leave a suggestion in the form of a rating and review on iTunes. 

Michael Bungay Stanier - Leading with Curiosity

This episode features passionate world changer and good friend of nearly twenty years, Noble Gibbens. Noble is a West Point graduate, successful entrepreneur, speaker, personal mentor, and business coach who learns, lives, and breathes leader development.
As the energetic son of an emergency room doctor, Noble Gibbens developed an insatiable love of learning partly because his parents bribed him with ice cream to take copious notes in church. Years later as an Infantry Lieutenant in the 82nd Airborne Division, he sought professional advice everywhere he could, including from senior leaders that lieutenants typically try to avoid. Following the Army, Noble threw his energy and passion into multiple businesses and has built a coaching network that is hundreds strong.
In this conversation, Noble talks about the mentors, authors, and resources that shaped him into the leader he is today, then makes a strong case for questioning those very leader development inputs in favor of finding one's own set of leadership beliefs and authentic voice. Then he hits home by challenging leaders to recognize that the areas they are most comfortable in are exactly the areas in which they are least willing to learn.
If you want to stay in your comfort zone, skip this episode.
Watch our conversation on video at the episode show page!
Want to hear more from Noble?
Join the Facebook mentorship group we discuss in this episode,
 The 360 Movement Personal Growth Tribe
And you should definitely check out EQ for Entrepreneurs EQ for Entrepreneurs at EQforEntrepreneurs.com and on Facebook, Instagram, & YouTube

Colonel Eric Lopez - Creating a Vision Everyone Will Follow

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