In Hindsight

This week on the WarriorU Podcast, Bram Connolly and Trent Burnard start their Leadership Analysis Series. During this series Bram and Trent will be forensically analysing leadership styles throughout history and attributing them with a score for different facets of leadership. By doing this, they hope to find knowledge, skills and attributes that modern leaders may, or may not want to emulate.

This week they dissect Adolf Hitler as a leader. Adolf Hitler was born 1889 in Austria. He became the Führer of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As the leader of Germany’s Nazi Party, he was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of the 20th century.

We start off our conversation with a snippet from Hitler’s speech promoting the Enabling Act. The Enabling Act allowed the Reich government to issue laws without the consent of Germany's parliament, laying the foundation for the complete Nazification of German society. The law was passed on March 23, 1933, and published the following day.

Leadership Analysis

Inspiration and Motivation - Score: 10/10

• Highly effective public speaker.
• Achieved political leadership.
• Implementing a vision.
• Most of the population aligned with his values.

Providing Purpose and Direction - Score: 10/10

• Radicalisation.
• Restructured the economy for resources.
• Effective mechanisms for providing direction.
• Positive cycle for Hitlers leadership.
• No challenge for his leadership.
• Used fear and relied on indoctrination and coercion.

Effectiveness of Leadership Style - Score: 7/10

• Führerprinzip effectively negated any challenge to his leadership.
• Dictatorial style of leadership created challenges to his effect.

Enduring Legacy - Score: 0/10

• No continuation of ideas as Nazism was destroyed in World War II
• No enduring legacy.

How it ended for them - Score: 0/10

• Was killed, or committed suicide in 1945.
• Responsible for the complete destruction of country.

Overall Leadership Summary - Score: 28/ 50

Hitler’s ability to inspire, and his political ascension though motivational speaking and opportunism, which led him to implement his political connection, creating his idealised German state through mobilising. All sectors of society obeyed his rule and also pursued his envisioned Germany.

Tweetable Quotes:

“Hitler’s leadership led to the complete destruction of his country – that’s how it ended” Trent Burnard

Resources Mentioned:

WarriorU Podcast

Hindsight Leadership and Resilience

Credits:

Podcast Produced by Pretty Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Season two of the WarriorU Podcast, Bram and Trent answer more leadership questions. The lads discuss the perception of leadership within a team, unpacking your leadership narrative and share some examples of good leadership that they have witness throughout their careers.

Trent and Bram, with their years of experience leading in the army, bring perspective and experience to this conversation as they answer your leadership questions.

Episode Highlights:

How do you lead people who do not want to listen?

• Leadership is a journey – it takes time and effort to grow.

What is more important, trust or Respect?

• Once trust has been breached it requires communication to fix, whereas respect can be earnt.

How do you deal with someone (or a group of people) who is perceived to be a higher rank than you i.e. age and years served?

• Dealing with Imposter Syndrome
• Perception of leadership.

How do you deal with inconsistent performance and laziness from your team?

• Laziness is lack of motivation.
• As a leader, you need to give your team a vision for influence, purpose and motivation.

How would you handle new people coming into your agency, who are overly confident (have a know it all attitude) when you are not the leader?

• Forming and Norming.
• Giving new members a suitable task to onboard.

How would you describe a leadership narrative?

• Source code DNA and leadership DNA.
• The importance of self-reflection

How do you keep going as a leader, when you yourself feel there is no hope?

• To be a truly good leader you need to know what it means to follow.

Toughest decision made when you were downrange in Afghanistan, from a leadership perspective?

• Bram shares a mission story from the field.

What’s the best example of leadership you have seen from an officer?

• An officer paying for the damage he caused.
• Moral courage.

Should you ‘fake it till you make it’?

• Words become worlds. Your thoughts become things.

3 Key Points:

1.  Perception of leadership within a team.
2.  Discovering your leadership narrative.
3. Faking it till you make it.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Words become worlds. Thoughts are crystalised through conversation and writing” – Bram Connolly
• “Rarely are you elevated into a position you have done before. Embrace the chance to learn.” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Bernard
• “No great learnings come from being comfortable.” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Bernard

Resources Mentioned:

WarriorU Podcast 

Hindsight Leadership and Resilience

Credits:

Podcast Produced by Pretty Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the WarriorU Podcast, Bram and Trent answer your key questions around leadership. In this episode, they discuss topics such as leading those who do not want to listen, approaching narcissism in leadership, and the relationship between vulnerability and resilience. Bram and Trent dive deep into understanding what it takes to be a good leader, in any environment.

With their years of experience leading in the army, they bring their perspective and experience to the conversation and provide valuable insights, so you too can become a better leader for your team. 

Questions from Part One:

How do you lead people who do not want to listen?

• Mastering the art of influence.
• Finding common ground.

Are we, culturally as Australians, bad at leading?

• Perhaps, but perhaps we have higher standards when it comes to communication.

Is resilience more than putting one foot in front of the other a bunch of times?

• Yes - that’s just grit
• Resilience is about bouncing back after a challenge and then growing from that experience.

When a new team member arrives and buys a gift for the leader, how do you deal with it?

• Leadership is about place and context.
• Be aware of how you are being perceived.

What is the relationship between vulnerability and resilience?

• Emotional Intelligence.

What is the best way to deal with narcissistic leaders who prefer sycophancy on their team?

• Values-based leadership.

Would you (Trent) rather be in a business that treats its team as a family or as a high performing team?

• The benefits of a high performing team
• The difficulties of operating as a family.

3 Key Points:

1. Leading those who do not want to be led.
2. Establishing Resilience in a team.
3. High performing team vs family business environment.  

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Leadership drives culture which drives performance”
• “Resilience does not always equate with a recovery to its initial state, often times resilience systems have no baseline to return to.”

Resources Mentioned:

WarriorU Podcast 

Hindsight Leadership and Resilience

Credits:

Podcast Produced by Pretty Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the WarriorU Podcast, Bram and Trent continues their discussion around leadership in the Army, training, structures and situations.

In this episode, the pair dive deeper into the topic of leadership, and specifically leading a platoon out in the field. They discuss critical factors to ensuring successful leadership such as effective training, a clear leadership structure and key mottos such as ‘What doesn’t get checked doesn’t get done’ and ‘Make things simple, not simpler’.

Episode Highlights:

• Training the platoon and understanding the ‘why’ and ‘how’.
• Structuring and developing training programme that is measurable.
• How it builds towards your ‘why?’
• Demonstrating measurable progress for your platoon.
• Platoon infrastructure and the welfare buddy system.
• Leading a platoon out in the field.
• “What doesn’t get checked doesn’t get done.”
• “Make things simple, not simpler.”
• Ineffectiveness and effectiveness are infectious – energy transfers
• The dangers of siloing information.
• Demonstrating leadership is the most effective form of communication.

3 Key Points:

1.     Structuring and developing training programs that are measurable.  

2.     “What doesn’t get checked doesn’t get done.”

3.     Demonstrating leadership is the most effective form of communication.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Building confidence as a leader is crucial.” – Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “It doesn’t matter what field you’re in humans are humans, and what doesn’t get checked doesn’t get done.” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “Leadership is about energy transfer.” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “Demonstrate what you are talking about from a leadership perspective.” – Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard

Resources Mentioned:

• WarriorU Podcast

Credits:

Podcast Produced by Pretty Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the WarriorU Podcast, Bram and Trent continue their talk on leadership in the Army, training, structures and situations.  

In this episode, the pair focus on the values that leadership in the Army should instil, the competency of soldiers themselves, understanding who you are as a leader and the relationships between leaders within the Army’s structure.

Episode Highlights:

• Platoon Commander relationships.
• Developing relationships within a platoon.
• Expectations and opportunities.
• Cultural gaps.
• ‘Personal branding’ and how you are perceived.
• The leadership narrative, self-reflection and your ‘why’.
• Technical competency, doctrine and systems.
• The main weapon at your disposal is your platoon.
• Mission flexibility.

3 Key Points:

1. Commander relationships and expectation.
2. Understand who you are as a leader, your values, personal brand and why
3. Doctrine and weapons, that being your platoon.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Personal brand is how you are perceived, are you seen as mature, serious about your work and how to you convey yourself to your platoon.” – Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “Your leadership narrative is critical as it allows people to understand how you will most often react” – Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “With a level of self-reflection, you should be able to tell someone the type of leader you are.” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard

Resources Mentioned:

• WarriorU Podcast

Credits:

Podcast Produced by Pretty Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the WarriorU Podcast, we’ll discuss a range of topics relating to platoon leadership, including leading as a brand-new platoon commander, relationships with Senior NCO’s and their wider impact within a platoon as a leader.  

Episode Highlights:

• Leading as a brand-new platoon commander.
• The wider impacts of such leadership within a platoon.
• Platoon Sergeant and senior NCO’s.
• The role of Platoon Sergeant and Senior NCO’s.
• The difference between operational and life experience.
• High speed and low speed of Senior NCO’s.
• The rules of the Platoon Sergeant’s leadership and listening to advice.
• Soldiers themselves are an eclectic mix of fitness levels, standards, professionalism, personalities and enthusiasm.
• The role is a relationship job and needs to understand this.
• Development management and high-performance culture.

3 Key Points:

1. The role of a senior NCO.
2. It is a relationship job and knowing your soldiers is essential.
3. The importance of counselling skills.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “As the commander, your job is to assess the information before you, and that includes the advice of your senior NCOs” – Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “Being a Platoon Commander is a relationships job” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard
• “Counselling is so important and it needs to be done correctly.” - Lieutenant Colonel Trent Burnard

Resources Mentioned:

• WarriorU Podcast

Credits:

Podcast Produced by Pretty Podcasts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on the WarriorU Podcast, Bram talks to Patryjcia Slawuta, Social Psychologist and founder of SelfHackathon.

Patryjcia defines herself as a ‘mind-hacker’, rather than a psychologist, and completed her PHD in shame. She is an expert when it comes to re-wiring the human brain. That being, our ability to control, connect with and change our thoughts.

During this episode we discuss identity and the impact our habits play on how we see ourselves, and how others see us. We unlock our ‘inner-code’ and learn how to ‘hack ourselves’ by understanding and shifting our attention. And finally, Patryjcia gives us her tips on how we can control our very own nervous system.

Episode Highlights:

• Patryjcia’s her research has been based around the dark side of the human nature – shame, guilt, humiliation, torcher, terrorism and greed.
• Are humans born bad, or is it nature or nature?
• Patryjcia explains it as a spectrum of human experience and compares us to an inchworm.
• Habits are the most underappreciated tools of human identity.
• Veterans have a connotation of someone who has ‘finished’, and re-framing our thoughts to fit out identity.
• Words create worlds, and the brain organises things based on the language we give it.
• Patryjcia defines herself as a ‘mind-hacker’ rather than a psychologist, so she can define her own identity.
• At a Facebook talk, Patryjcia presented the topic of code in the human mind, being Math vs Magic. Math is the algorithms that predict our lives as 90% of our past responses overlap. Magic is the quality of the human spirit – those who have the capacity to move beyond their past.
• Habits and change come when we cross persistence with passion and patience.
• The brain’s biggest fear is the unknown, but nothing exciting or great comes from a space of known.
• Can poker (game theory) help a leader make decisions, under pressure, while not knowing all the information?
• We have the ability to ‘hack ourselves’ when we understand our code – that being survival.
• If you want the good things (in life) you have to step into the unknown and step out of the boundaries of society’s labels of identity.
• Attention is our most scarce resource – but when you turn the attention on yourself you can inspect your own code.
• Neurons that fire together wire together. Wherever you focus your attention will become your habit and your identity.
• Negativity Bias is when we focus and learn from something negative.
• Mental toughness - how do you frame your thinking vs resilience - how stable is your heart.
• The ‘If, Then’ theory - injecting self-directed evolution.
• Is benevolent manipulation lying?
• Human attention heals – Patryjcia refers to this as ‘inter-be’ and see’s it as the most powerful gift we can give another human.
• Religious radicalisation encapsulates our human desire for need, network and narrative.
• Hope, as opposed to optimism, requires real work.
• We, as homosapien’s, are one of the only beings that have the capacity to control our nervous system – all through our breath!

3 Key Points:

1. Our identity is not defined by others, but by our habits.
2. We have the ability to ‘hack ourselves’ when we understand our code – that being survival.
3. Take ownership of your attention – who you give it too and what you focus it on. 

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Habits are the most underappreciated tools of human identity.” – Patryjcia Slawuta
• “Words create worlds. The brain organises things based on the language we give it.” – Patryjcia Slawuta
• “Hope, as opposed to optimism, requires real work.” - Patryjcia Slawuta
• “There is so much noise out there - take ownership of your attention.” - Patryjcia...
  

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During this episode of The WarriorU podcast, host Bram Connolly speaks with Mark Wales, former Special Operations Officer and associate at McKinsey & Company, and his wife Samantha Gash, professional endurance athlete, social entrepreneur and motivational speaker. They discuss leading teams remotely, Mark’s time in Special Operations, how to lead in uncertainty, and techniques for self-support and health. They also talk about strategic vulnerability. 

Episode Highlights:

• Mark talks about why products for his business are manufactured in the United States instead of Australia.
• Sam talks about some of the large runs/expeditions and extreme races she has done recently.
• Sam talks about how she is interested in helping children access quality education and how she supports this cause through her running.
• Is it the issues getting you through the run or is running itself the drive?
• Samantha believes that connection to our cause brings out our potential.
• Motivation or consistency, which one is more important to be successful?
• Sam and Mark talk about their reasons for going on Survivor.
• What are your thoughts on leading teams remotely, especially recently?
• Are you surprised how little some companies invest in leadership?
• Samantha also sees an issue with the lack of skill-set diversity within leadership teams.
• Mark found that, in war, there was a deep level of human connection in the teams.
• Mark talks about some mental health techniques he learned after leaving the military.
• Mark talks about the damage that constant stress can have on your entire body.
• With your business, do you do more planning together or away from each other?
• Is a high performing culture the result of the leaders or is there some other factor?
• Samantha talks about mistakes she has made in her expeditions.
• Samantha and Mark talk about their experience with Eco-Challenge.
• Before Covid-19, many businesses had never considered what it would look like if all work had to be done remotely.
• Do you still both train every day?
• Samantha talks about how she feels different now that she has had a child, but still just as strong if not stronger.
• What do you both have coming up for the rest of 2020?
• Mark is working on prototypes for new products for his business that he hopes to have ready in the next year.

3 Key Points:

1. Trust is a key element of leading a remote team.
2. Showing a more vulnerable side of yourself can help bring out the best in other people.
3. People are stronger in a team than they are individually.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “I think we need to find what we’re going to be wired and connected to in order to bring that potential out in us.” -Samantha Gash
• “Humans who are leaders are emotional by default. That’s probably the primary sense of being. Our emotions drive us.” -Samantha Gash
• “You get the right team together and individually you surpass what your own limits are.” -Samantha Gash

Resources Mentioned:

• WarriorU Podcast
• Hindsight Leadership
• Mark: Instagram LinkedIn
• Samantha: Instagram Facebook Twitter 

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David Marshall – Why Leadership Matters.

This week on the WarriorU Podcast Bram talks to David Marshall the CEO of Defence Bank.

David grew up on a farming property in New Zealand. He studied at Lincoln College (Canterbury University), London Business School and the Wharton Business School.

He commenced his role as the Chief Executive Officer of Defence Bank in February 2018 after spending more than 30 years in the financial services sector in New Zealand and Australia. He has worked for such institutions as Suncorp, Westpac and the Commonwealth Bank. 

David’s leadership journey was forged some years prior to this current appointment. In his career he has had to navigate significant customer-driven transformations across the financial services industry. These changes were as a result of the events of September 11 and the Global Financial Crisis, and these experiences were deeply profound for David and shaped his own leadership style.

Bram and David delve into these experiences and his thoughts on leadership in the financial sector. In particular, David describes how conversation skills are the most vital tool for a leader. He outlines how a leader must always be consistent and as a leader how moderating your own temperament is crucial if you are to be effective.

Episode Highlights:

• What changes have you seen in the financial system over the past 30 years?
• David sees people increasing their sense of community.
• David explains the importance of basing your decisions on facts when in a leadership position.
• When do you reach out to people who are joining Defence to help them with investing?
• David believes that there is still a large need for personal interaction within banking.
• David is not interested in getting into an “arms race” with big banks.
• If you could reach out to our listeners who are Defence or ex-Defence about your point of difference, what would you say?
• Does Defence Bank still support local communities or sporting clubs?
• What have you learned about leadership in your long career in the financial sector?
• Leadership requires courage, consistency, and confidence.
• People need to be absolutely clear about what their role is and what is expected.
• How has the emergence or equality played into your leadership journey?
• As a CEO, how do you have conversations about unconscious biases with your leaders so the culture is one of acceptance?
• Even though you don’t like to use the word “resilience,” how do you measure if someone is resilient or not?
• David believes that, more often than not, lack of resilience is related to things that happen outside of work.
• David speaks about the importance of seeing both the details and the big picture as a leader.
• Take the view that you are always ready to learn something from who you work for and who works for you.
• David explains the “articulate minority syndrome.”
• David believes that banks will start hiring more people with proven experience.
• Bram mentions how the ideals of leadership are often the same across sectors.
• Great leaders ask questions and aren’t scared to admit they don’t know something.

3 Key Points:

1. Despite the increases in technology with banking, people still need human interaction.
2. Leadership requires conversations, human interactions, and managing ambiguity.
3. Operate on the basis that you’re never surprised by anything.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “You have to have conversations with people. Some of those conversations require courage and some of those conversations don’t require as much courage.” -David Marshall
• “Eight or nine times out of ten, it’s not as bad as it seems.” -David Marshall
• “Being gifted is a curse, more often than not.” -David Marshall
• “In leadership, you can’t take anything for granted and you can’t assume anything or be surprised by anything.” -David...
  

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