The Operator's Code

What makes great leaders great?

People have written books on this subject.

My guest today, Peter Cimoroni, answers with just one word.

And it's a word I'm thinking about more and more since our conversation.

This episode is packed with wisdom earned in the trenches over many years leading organizations of all sizes. If you're a young leader looking to fast track your learning curve, this is a must-listen.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

3:42 The Ability To Endure

10:07 The One Word That Separates Great Leaders

19:18 Building An Efficient, Not A Siloed Business

25:40 Timeless Lessons For Young Leaders

35:22 The Power Most Are Taking For Granted

39:16 You're The Captain

Resources:

Peter Cimoroni on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cpetercimoroni/

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1954839278/

Mariane Bekker made peace with death at 6 years old, lying in a hospital in Lebanon, as bombs dropped around her.

Now, she's a successful entrepreneur and tech executive, helping provide opportunities for women in tech, raising her children (one of whom has special needs), and managing to find gratitude and build community through it all - things she learned early on growing up in a war torn country.

This episode is filled with hard-earned wisdom that not many of us in the West can claim to have.

Find out what it takes to live a life well lived through service, gratitude, and the support system around you to achieve victory through adversity.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

0:43 How To Balance A LOT Of Responsibility

2:58 "I Made Peace With Death"

10:24 Gratitude In War

16:38 Escaping The War

26:01 A Life Well-Lived Through Service

29:45 How AI Can Serve Us, Not Destroy Us

38:50 How To Emotionally Prepare for Adversity

45:03 Building A Support System

Resources:

Mariane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marianebekker/

Founder's Bay: https://foundersbay.com/

You.com: https://you.com/

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079Q64KQX/

After listening to this conversation, you won't believe what Rick's been through over the past few years.

His mindset, his success, his gratitude...all of it speak to a deep, unshakeable framework of truth that he lives his life by.

Lessons, principles - a Code - that you can apply to your own life and organization.

Rick walked away from the company he built at the age of 61 with no plan.

Now he's navigating the most lucrative deal of his career.

Rick lost his son to suicide.

Now he chooses gratitude.

Find out the hard-earned principles and lessons that keep Rick moving forward, in gratitude.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

0:41 Gratitude

3:23 How To Build Trust

5:03 Preparing For Success

10:26 The A-Ha Moment

13:00 Developing Relational Instinct

17:08 Systematizing Situational Awareness

26:24 Why Sell at 61?

30:41 The Gratitude Choice

34:49 Wisdom That Lasts (No Matter How Crazy The World Gets)

44:21 Challenges Are A FEATURE, Not An Exception

49:52 How To Live In Gratitude

Resources:

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F7LS2ZW/

Rick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-thomas-51909821/

Rick's Website: https://rt-yd.com/

What Sam Berman has built should have been impossible.

Especially after losing both of his parents by the age of 25.

School was a nightmare for him, he doesn't have a college degree, and yet he's built a successful business and family, AND lives by an Operator's Code that's stood the test of time.

Find out what it takes to get through REAL hardship, how to build a business that actually takes on the founder's mindset and principles, and what good men do when bad things happen.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

0:47 Developing Leaders

3:50 Principles Learned From Pain

14:08 Operationalizing Personal Excellence

25:46 Sam's Operator's Code

39:53 The Tragedy That Got Men To Pay Attention

Resources:

LARC: https://www.larc.co/

Sam Berman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuelberman/

Email Sam: [email protected]

Militant Mind by Sam Berman: https://www.larc.co/the-militant-mind

It's Your Ship by Captain D. Michael Abrashoff: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0446529117

He graduated during the height of COVID.

Most people in his generation took the pessimistic route.

"It's not fair!"

Complaining. Doing nothing. Taking no responsibility.

Not Casey Ridley.

By 25, he built a 55 store franchise.

I wanted to know what made Casey tick in a world where so many of his contemporaries are burdened by entitlement and negativity.

We dive deep into the Operator's Code that guides Casey's business and even more importantly, his commitment to service.

Let's dive in.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

1:06 From Surgeon To Supply Chain

3:31 Leadership as Service

7:45 How To Start Franchising

16:45 Evaluating Subordinate Leaders

24:53 Balancing AI + Tech vs Human Value

33:43 Guidance To Pessimistic Young People

Resources:

Casey Ridley on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/casey-ridley/

The Designery: https://thedesignery.com

John Hamilton "accidentally" ended up pursuing a path in the Air Force that 98% of applicants fail.

He said, "perfect".

Within a matter of just 6 months, he radically transformed his mindset, and became a Tier 1 operator with multiple deployments.

Then, he took his success mindset and applied it to real estate and business.

This kind of multi-disciplinary success - while building a family - requires a rock solid Code. One that doesn't buckle under pressure, even though it's been tested in the heat of battle.

That's what we'll be learning in today's episode with John Hamilton. The code, the mindset, and the principles, that were forged in battle, but perfected in the marketplace and the family.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

4:59 Old School Dad Lessons

6:51 98% Fail Rate Mindset

12:06 Special Forces Mindset Difference

14:38 First Deployment and Firefight (Training Lessons)

19:34 Resilience After Tragedy

26:15 Entrepreneurship After The Air Force

31:31 Taking Big Risks

36:58 Instilling These Traits In Your Kids

40:03 Bringing Military Teamwork Into Security

45:55 How Technology Changes Leadership and Client Participation

48:41 The Principles That Don't Shift (No Matter What Changes)

55:35 If You're Stuck?

Resources:

John Hamilton on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-hamilton-hkdef/

HK Defense Solutions: https://hkdef.com/

Dave Sanderson was the last passenger off of US Airways Flight 1549 after it crash landed into the Hudson River.

An entire lifetime of lessons kicked in at the crucial moment - his Operator's Code came online - and it led to him selflessly serving others, even at the risk of his own safety.

What goes into crafting a Code like this?

What lessons stick, what helps you make the right call in a moment of pressure, what's worth passing on?

We dive into all of that and more in this episode, and get some crucial insights for leaders and operators that we can apply in business and every other area of life.

When life "crash lands" around you...do you have the Code to make the right calls for you and those you're responsible for? Listen to find out.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

0:41 Moments of Crisis

4:34 The Foundations

9:59 Concentration Camp Lessons in MINDSET

15:28 Knowledge is NOT Enough

18:18 Learning (And Teaching) Your Code

24:13 How To Take The Best Next Step

29:19 You Have To Make A Choice

36:46 Passing On Excellence

40:41 The Power of Being Congruent

46:41 Timeless Leadership Wisdom In Rapidly Changing Times

53:39 Bringing Back Real Wisdom To A Drifting Culture

Resources:

Moments Matter by Dave Sanderson: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0764GSH3F/

From Turmoil to Triumph by Dave Sanderson: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B46S7RBL/

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Leaders by Stephen Covey: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WF972WK/

Principle-Centered Leadership by Stephen Covey: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NMZ4TLM/

Website: https://davesandersonspeaks.com/

Welcome to The Operator's Code.

In this first episode, we start off with the tables turned - host Scott Bowman is interviewed and lays out his own Operator's Code, built and refined over 30 years in the trenches of the military and building businesses.

This show exists to inspire people who may not feel like they have the agency or the ability to be the CEO of their own life. We're here to tell you that is a lie. Freedom exists at the point where you become "response-able" (listen to the episode to learn what we mean), and it's amazing how universal this truth is.

Listen, and hit subscribe to hear other very successful people break down the fundamental CODE that shaped them and got them to the heights they operate at.

In This Episode:

0:00 Intro

0:49 The Building of a Code

8:42 Where People Drift

11:51 Refining Discipline

14:11 When Discipline Is Challenged

21:22 Picking The Right Person Before There's Proof

25:53 Response-Able

28:46 Your Agency and Impact

30:40 The Pattern for Successful Operators

35:17 Be The Coach AND Quarterback

40:06 Why I'm Doing This Publicly

45:16 Who We're Helping Level Up