The Professionals Playbook

My guest today is James "Murph" Murphy who is the founder and Chairman of Afterburner, a leadership training firm comprised of more than 80 current and former elite military professionals. Afterburner was awarded Inc. Magazine's fastest growing company award five times and has worked with over 85% of the U.S. Fortune 50 companies. Before founding afterburner, Murph served as an F-15 pilot in the U.S. Air Force. He is also the author of six books that range in topic from leadership development to veteran career transition.

In our conversation we talk about the biggest issue that businesses struggle with, what it was like to apply the fighter pilot mindset to the NY Giants Super Bowl run, and how to stay agle--both individually and as a company. 



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LinkedIn-- Justin Hasard Lee
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This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

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Live Q and A. We cover everything from my most memorable mission to my workout routine.

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My guest today is Richard Browning, the British inventor dubbed the “real life Iron Man.” He's the founder of Gravity, launched in 2017 with a dream to reimagine an entirely new form of human flight. Using 6 small jet engines, he's built a suit that has set multiple world records. In just 2 years he's given 5 TED talk and executed 96 public demonstrations of his technology across 30 countries.

In our conversation we talk about the hurdles he had to overcome to build a jet suit, how to maintain resilience in the face of adversity, and how his next step is to build retractable wings into the suit.

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LinkedIn-- Justin Hasard Lee
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Facebook--@justinfighterpilot

This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊

*My editor sent me this after listening to the episode:
 "I wanted to let you know that this was by far one of my favorite episodes to edit. It provided great insight into leadership skills."*

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My guest today is Scott Mann who spent 23 years as an Officer in the United States Army, 18 of those as a Green Beret in Army Special Forces, where he specialized in unconventional missions in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

He is the author of two international best-selling books: Game Changers and Straight Talk About Military Transition.

He's also give 3 TED talks. 

In our conversation we talk about how Green Berets build rapport with local tribes, how he almost took his life after leaving the military, and how leaders can connect with their people.

Order of Topics:

• Using SOF training for COVID-19
• How Green Berets compare to other SOF units
• How to go into a village and establish trust
• Interpersonal techniques 
• Architect of the Afghan SOF program
• Almost committing suicide
• How to transition from the military
• Green Beret principals
• How to build relationships
• Leadership training 

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LinkedIn-- Justin Hasard Lee
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Facebook--@justinfighterpilot

This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊

My guest today is Daniel "Bond" Robinson who is Founder and CEO of Red 6--a company revolutionizing augmented reality (AR) for military training by allowing pilots to see synthetic threats in dynamic and high speed environments.

In 2005 the RAF selected him as the youngest fighter pilot of his generation to attend the Weapons Instructor Course and a year later, he was selected as the first non-American fighter pilot to fly the the F-22 Raptor; a huge deal at the time.

In our conversation Daniel talks to his incredible aviation journey including flying the Raptor, why he left the RAF, and the cutting edge technology his company is working with now. 

Order of Topics:

• His background
• Flying Tornados 
• Culture of the debrief
• Being assigned to the F-22
• Post Air Force career 
• Building his own airplane
• Augmented reality in aviation

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LinkedIn-- Justin Hasard Lee
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Facebook--@justinfighterpilot

This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊

My guest today is Safi Bahcall who is the author of Loonshots, The most recommended book of the year. It came out in 2019 and has already been translated into 18 languages. It's recommended by Bill Gates, Daniel Kahneman, Daniel Pink, Malcolm Gladwell, and Tim Ferriss and was selected as the best business book of the year by Amazon, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Financial Times, Forbes, Inc., Medium, and the Washington Post. 

Safi is a physicist, a biotech entrepreneur, and a former public-company CEO. In 2008, he was named E&Y New England Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year. In 2011, he worked with President Obama’s council of science advisors on the future of national research.

Safi regularly speaks with leadership teams about applying the ideas in Loonshots and has presented at leading institutions around the world.

In our conversation we talk about his thoughts on the coronavirus, separating artists from soldiers in organizations, the role of incentives, and then at the end, he interviews me for a few minutes. I highly recommend his book Loonshots--The subchapter "The Invisible Axe" has, in my opinion, the single greatest page and a half of non-fiction writing, where he talks about the incentive structure of middle managers and why they are predisposed to reject innovative ideas. 

Topics we talk about:

• Corona Virus--optimism 
• Why he got into physics
• Artists and soldiers--love both
• Balancing risk and opportunity 
• Loonshot tactics for small groups
• Stake vs. status
• Think through incentives 
• Loonshots--the book

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LinkedIn-- Justin Hasard Lee
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This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊

My guest today is George Nolly, who flew 315 combat missions over Vietnam in both the O-2 as a forward air controller and the F-4 as strike pilot; earning 24 Air Medals and 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses. He was the last pilot to complete 100 missions over North Vietnam. While in the Air Force, George received the Tactical Air Command Instructor Pilot of the Year Award.

After his service, George went into commercial aviation, flying for United Airlines as a Captain and Flight Instructor for 26 years. He is also the host of the Ready for Takeoff Podcast. 

In our conversation we talk about his lead up to Vietnam, flying an F-4 into the most heavily defended airspace in the world, and what makes a good pilot. 

Here are the show notes with associated time stamps. 

• Passion for flight (min. 04:00)
• Pilot training (09:00)
• Forward air control (15:20)
• Vietnam as a FAC(20:00)
• TKTKTK check around 21:00
• Working the system (33:00)
• F-4 Fighter training (38:30)
• Vietnam in the F-4 (40:00)
• Post-Vietnam (59:00)

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LinkedIn-- Justin Hasard Lee
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Facebook--@justinfighterpilot

This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊

My guest today is Joe De Sena, the Founder and CEO of Spartan, the world’s largest obstacle race and endurance brand. They have more than 250 events across 40 countries with over 1 million annual global participants.

He is also the host of the Spartan Up podcast and is a New York Times Best Selling Author of three books: Spartan Up, Spartan Fit, and The Spartan Way.

During our conversation we talk about how to build grit, his principals for high performance, and how he started the Spartan race.

• Spartan Race (minute 02:00)
• We're zoo animals (08:20)
• Dark places during a race (12:00)
• Leadership (14:30)
• Firework business growing up (18:30)
• Branding (22:00)
• Death Race (23:00)
• We quit too soon (28:00)
• Money doesn't buy happiness (33:45)
• His routine (35:00)
• Risk (39:30)
• Project he's working on (40:30)

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LinkedIn-- Justin 'Hasard' Lee
Instagram-- @justinfighterpilot
Facebook--@justinfighterpilot

This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊

Dr. Joel Selanikio is a physician, TED speaker, inventor, emergency responder, and former CDC epidemiologist and outbreak investigator. He was also the lead physician at the IMC Ebola Treatment Center in Sierra Leone.

He is one of the few people on the planet that is a professional in public health, clinical expertise, and technology.

In our conversation we talk about the Corona Virus (COVID-19) including its origins, symptoms, testing, treatment and lessons to learn from it. There is a lot of noise out there right now--this episode was recorded to be as unbiased and useful as possible.



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LinkedIn-- Justin 'Hasard' Lee
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My guest today is Pierre "ATÉ" Chuet a former French Fighter pilot who is now an author and speaker. He went through Pilot Training as an exchange officer with US Navy before flying for the French Navy. He's flown missions in Iraq and was the Rafale Airshow pilot. After a stroke took him out of the cockpit, he transitioned to speaking. 

In our conversation, we talk about human performance in combat, mental toughness, and the 11G pull-up that caused his stroke. Below are the show notes with time stamps: 

• Youngest pilot in Europe (Minute 02:45)
• Exchange with US Navy (10:00)
• Carrier landing mistake (15:00)
• Anti-ship mission (18:00)
• Flying the Dassault Rafale (25:00)
• Physical preparation (36:00)
• Being at the tip of the spear (47:00)
• Mental health (1:05:00)
• Speaking (1:18:00)

This interview is available in video format on YouTube here.

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LinkedIn-- Justin 'Hasard' Lee
Instagram-- @justinfighterpilot
Facebook--@justinfighterpilot

This episode was edited by Trevor Cabler

You can review the show by tapping here and scrolling to the bottom where it says: "Write a Review." Thanks for the support 👊