12 Geniuses Podcast

Maj. Gen. Kenneth Ekman | Leading Through High Pressure


Listen Later

Major General Kenneth Ekman is a command pilot with thousands of flying hours. Many of those hours have been in high-pressure, combat situations. In his role as the Department of Defense West Africa Coordination Element Lead, U.S. Africa Command, Maj. Gen. Ekman has had to deal with a variety of other high-pressure situations, including the drawdown of U.S. forces in Niger.

In this interview, Maj. Gen. Ekman discusses three topics in detail - leadership, managing pressure, and the future of Africa. He describes the leadership model he believes yields the best results for teams, how to prepare a team to execute a mission, the concept of “disagree and commit,” and managing change as a leader. Referencing his experience as a command pilot, Maj. Gen. Ekman talks about the methods he has used for managing stress and high-pressure situations, building trust when the stakes are life and death, and how he has developed resilience over the course of his career. The conversation ends with Maj. Gen. Ekman detailing why Africa is important to the United States and how their shifting demographics, along with their abundance of natural resources, will make Africa a more important global influence throughout the rest of the 21st century.

Maj. Gen. Kenneth P. Ekman is the Department of Defense West Africa Coordination Element Lead, U.S. Africa Command, Stuttgart Möhringen, Germany. In this capacity, he coordinates with African militaries, the U.S. interagency, and allies to build unity of effort, maximize the effectiveness of operations, activities and investments, and ensure alignment with U.S. whole of government efforts to advance posture initiatives and campaign objectives in West Africa.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

12 Geniuses PodcastBy Don MacPherson

  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5
  • 5

5

126 ratings


More shows like 12 Geniuses Podcast

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,791 Listeners

Freakonomics Radio by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher

Freakonomics Radio

32,073 Listeners

Coaching for Leaders by Dave Stachowiak

Coaching for Leaders

1,456 Listeners

TED Radio Hour by NPR

TED Radio Hour

22,170 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,213 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,479 Listeners

Up First from NPR by NPR

Up First from NPR

56,111 Listeners

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett by DOAC

The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett

6,380 Listeners

Throughline by NPR

Throughline

15,878 Listeners

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques by Matt Abrahams, Think Fast Talk Smart

Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

773 Listeners

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway by Vox Media Podcast Network

The Prof G Pod with Scott Galloway

5,160 Listeners

A Bit of Optimism by Simon Sinek

A Bit of Optimism

2,180 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,347 Listeners

ReThinking by TED

ReThinking

616 Listeners

What Now? with Trevor Noah by Spotify Studios

What Now? with Trevor Noah

3,840 Listeners